A Lehighton woman has been charged with forgery after she took checks from several victims and cashed them.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by officer David Roberts of the Franklin Township Police Department in the case against Sara Mertz, 45:

At 1:42 p.m. Aug. 19, a woman called 911 to say she had placed a check in her mailbox to pay a bill, and realized it had been cashed by another person for an altered amount.

The woman provided an image of the bank check number drawn from their account.

Roberts saw the check was made out to “Sara Mertz,” whom he knows from previous investigations of the same type.

The victim wrote out a check for $95.20 to pay a bill.

Roberts was able to identify that the account was used to deposit the altered check number at the Huntington National Bank and did belong to Mertz, 45.

The check was deposited via mobile deposit at 12:46 p.m. Aug. 14.

Mertz faces charges of forgery; criminal use of a communication facility; access device is counterfeit, altered, or incomplete; theft by unlawful taking; and receiving stolen property.

At 10:44 a.m. Dec. 14, the township police department was contacted by a woman who is the daughter of another victim, and has power of attorney for her mother.

The woman said that her mother had written and attempted to mail a check on Aug. 3 in the amount of $1,917.01 from her bank account for her local taxes.

The check was made to the township’s tax collector.

On Nov. 9, a notice was mailed from the township’s tax collector to the woman’s mother notifying her that her tax bill had not been paid for the current year. A copy of the canceled check showed the name of “Sara A. Mertz” was forged onto the check.

The check was cashed presumably via mobile deposit on Aug. 6 via Citibank.

On the morning of Feb. 14, Mertz was taken into custody as a result of a warrant issued for another incident.

At that time, Mertz acknowledged that she took checks.

Mertz faces charges of forgery; criminal use of a communication facility; access device is counterfeit, altered, or incomplete; theft by unlawful taking; and receiving stolen property.

On Feb. 1, Mahoning Township Police Chief Audie Mertz notified Roberts that he was contacted by the technical service coordinator for Suburban Water Technology. Inc., Gilbertsville, in regard to fraudulent ACH debit transfers attempted on accounts of Suburban Water Technology Inc. by a “Sara Mertz.”

On Aug. 23, an ACH debit was conducted in the amount of $323.37 from their account to an American Strategic Insurance account in the name of “Sara Mertz.” After this fraudulent transfer was identified in November, the account was closed.

On Jan. 26, two transactions were attempted in the amounts of $150 and $200, respectively, to an Acorns account with the identified name of “Sara Mertz” on the now closed account of Suburban Water Technology Inc. Roberts identified American Strategic Insurance as a subsidiary of Progressive Insurance.

On Feb. 14, Mertz was taken into custody on a warrant from another case, and identified that she had attempted the ACH transactions in August to pay her Progressive Insurance, which she had for a vehicle and renter’s insurance.

She faces three counts each of unlawful use of computer; computer trespass; and theft by deception.

Mertz is currently incarcerated in the Carbon County Correctional Facility in lieu of $50,000 straight bail, and scheduled to have a preliminary hearing March 23 before District Judge William J. Kissner of Palmerton.