The Auto Marine office.
AUTO Marine Inc.’s office on lower Navy Hill has been burglarized twice, its president, Adonis Santos, told reporters on Monday.
On April 14, burglars cut the chain of the front-door office to gain entry and took blank checks and an electric typewriter.
“They used the typewriter to type names and amounts in the checks to make them look legitimate. They also tried to forge my signature,” Santos said.
On May 25, the office was again burglarized, and this time the perpetrators took power tools, a red underwater camera, documents, and a Canon copier machine.
Santos declined to provide the total amount of the stolen items.
But he said community members, banks and other businesses should be aware that blank checks have been stolen.
“These are company checks and they are for Auto Marine, Max Marine M Machine Shop and Aquaville. Businesses and individuals who receive these checks should be aware that they are stolen checks,” Santos said.
“They can call us at (670) 286-1029 or (670) 233-2916 to verify if the checks are good,” he added.
According to Santos, the two burglary incidents have been reported to the Department of Public Safety.
“DPS investigators have kept us informed and updated on the progress of their investigation,” Santos said.
“Some documents, blank checks and the typewriter have already been recovered and returned to us. But some checks have been cashed already,” he added.
“Some of the recovered items and documents returned to us also included other company checks, which we later learned were also stolen,” Santos said.
As of press time Monday evening, DPS had yet to issue a statement regarding the burglary incidents.
