A Lehighton woman has been charged with writing bad checks that totaled over several thousand dollars.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Detective Amie Barclay of the Mahoning Township Police Department in the case against Sara Mertz:

On Aug. 17, Barclay was assigned to investigate checks written by Mertz, 45, that belonged to other people and businesses.

On April 29, Chief Audie Mertz initiated a review of First Commonwealth Federal Credit ATM security video from the Carbon Plaza Mall lot and Barclay observed the following events.

At 7:35 a.m. Feb. 2, Sara Mertz arrives in a dark-colored Jeep, and she appears to be the only occupant in the vehicle and places what appears to be a check onto the dash and writes on it. She completes a deposit of Bo Bo Garden Ming Inc. in the amount of $2,386.87. The victim had placed the check into their mailbox at the business. The check was stolen and altered to be made out to a male with two scribbled signatures on the back, and was originally made out to the United States Treasury.

At 10:01 p.m. Feb. 4, Sara Mertz walks up to the ATM and completes a deposit of three checks totaling $1,085.02. The first check was from Bo Bo Garden Ming Inc. in the amount of $90.63. while the second check was also from Bo Bo Garden Ming Inc. in the amount of $710. The third check was from DraftKings in the amount of $284.37.

On Feb. 4, there is a second deposit with no video footage for Bo Bo Garden Ming Inc. in the amount of $37.20.

On Feb. 7, Sara Mertz arrived in a dark colored Jeep and appears to be the only occupant in the vehicle. She completes a deposit of two checks totaling $600. The first check was from Pennsylvania Ski Area Association in the amount of $500. The second check was from a female who reported the $100 check had been sent to her residence in the mail as an offer from Citi Bank, but she never received the check.

At 2:01 a.m. Feb. 9, Sara Mertz walks up to the ATM and completes a deposit of two checks totaling $2,950.71. The first check was from Pennsylvania Ski Areas Association in the amount of $2,810.61, and was deposited payable to Mertz’s family as a refund for kids skiing. The victim reported it was originally made out to her for payroll, but the resident never received the check from Express Scripts in the amount of $140.10, and was altered from the original payee to Sara Mertz.

On Feb. 16, an order for new checks was placed for a woman for her KeyBank account. She never received the checks, and it was discovered that two of them had been written out and cashed. The first check was made out to cash in the amount of $400, signed on the front with the victim’s name and signed on the back by Sara Mertz. The check was mobile deposited into Sara Mertz’s M&T Bank account on Feb. 26.

The second check was dated Feb. 28 and was made out to a male in the amount of $125. It was signed on the front with the female victim’s name and signed on the back with a male’s name. The check was cashed by the male at the Whitehall Walmart store on March 4.

On April 2, Chief Mertz received a call from a male reporting they had contacted KeyBank to report the fraud after they reviewed bank statements and found a charge of $200 on March 1 for a direct withdrawal as a credit processing fee for which the origin of the fee is unknown.

On Aug. 17, Barclay attempted contact with Mertz, with negative results.

Sara Mertz faces charges on nine counts of access device is counterfeit, altered, incomplete, and five counts each of forgery, theft by deception, and receiving stolen property.

She is currently free in lieu of $100,000 unsecured bail, and scheduled to have a preliminary hearing on Jan. 5, 2022, before District Judge Casimir T. Kosciolek of Lansford.