Thief bounced his way out of jail on bad checks
Dallas deputies: Inmate duped lawyer with bad checks
12:06 AM CDT on Saturday, June 5, 2004
Money laundering typically lands a person in jail. Damon Belfi managed to turn it into his way out, Dallas County sheriff's deputies say.
He converted two forged checks – deposited into his inmate account – into cash, which an unwitting lawyer used to bail him out in March, officials said. Deputies later discovered the checks were from a dissolved company and issued by a bank that closed 13 years ago.
The Sheriff's Department acknowledged that a mailroom clerk blundered. The department is not supposed to accept checks for inmate accounts, used to buy commissary goods and pay court costs.
In the past, Mr. Belfi, 33, was convicted of felony theft. A year ago, his probation was revoked for credit card abuse.
"This is, like, the guy you don't want to take a check from," said Bret Schmidt, a Dallas lawyer Mr. Belfi contacted for representation.
Mr. Belfi, arrested again Monday, declined to be interviewed.
After Mr. Belfi told Mr. Schmidt he had $6,000 in his inmate account, Mr. Schmidt asked another lawyer in his office, John Plant, to withdraw the money.
In April, the Sheriff's Department learned the checks were forged. A judge called Mr. Plant and told him about the ruse.
"Of course, I was bothered by that," Mr. Plant said. "It was not even my client."
Mr. Schmidt later talked to investigators, who asked whether he was involved in the scam. Mr. Belfi used him, investigators said.
The lawyers repaid the $3,000 they used to free Mr. Belfi.
"It really was completely their screwup," Mr. Schmidt said. "I had no clue they would ever take a check from somebody."
Garland police arrested Mr. Belfi on Monday. He is back in the county jail, charged this time with check forgery, drug possession and credit card abuse. The drug and credit card abuse charges stem from his original arrest in January.
This time, his total bail is $21,000, authorities said.
Investigators don't know who mailed the checks to Mr. Belfi, but whoever did it tried to help other inmates in the same jail tank. One was accompanied by a cover letter that indicated the money was for an inmate's medical expenses. But those checks had problems with them and were not deposited, authorities said.
If Mr. Belfi knows who sent the checks, he isn't saying, spokesman Sgt. Don Peritz said.
"It was like money laundering," he said. "We were the unwitting recipients of the checks."
E-mail dmichaels@dallasnews.com
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/060504dnmetchecks.2ab82.html
