Quincy woman facing three counts of forgery in Missouri after opening bank account with fictitious checks

CANTON, Mo. — A Quincy, Ill., woman was charged earlier this month with three counts of forgery in Lewis County.

Nicole L. Bresnahan, 40, of Quincy was arrested April 8 and extradited from Illinois after being taken into custody on the Lewis County warrant. Forgery is a Class D felony, punishable by up to seven years in prison or one year in the county jail.

The arrest was the result of an investigation conducted by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Department that began in September 2023. Bresnahan is alleged to have opened accounts at United State Bank in Canton, using fictitious checks. She then made cash withdrawals before the checks were returned.

A probable cause statement filed by Lewis County Sheriff David Parrish said he learned Bresnahan opened a fraudulent savings account and checking account at United State Bank on Sept. 6, 2023. She opened the savings account by writing a $500 check to herself, then wrote another $500 check.

Bresnahan then made a $1,500 deposit on Sept. 7, 2023, in her checking account, then wrote a check for $1,500 and deposited it into her savings account. She withdrew $1,000 in cash from her savings at that time.

Bresnahan made a $3,465 check deposit into her savings account on Sept. 8, then withdrew $1,965. At another branch, she wrote a check to herself for $2000 and cashed it. Three days later, Bresnahan made a $1,500 deposit into her checking account by presenting a check in her name.

Parrish then wrote in his statement that all the checks were returned because the checks were fraudulent.

Bresnahan is scheduled to be in Lewis County Circuit Court for a status hearing on May 6 before Judge Corey Ray Moon. 

Bresnahan was released after posting a $5,000 cash bond.