The Sierra Vista Police Department arrested Huachuca City Fire Chief Jon Allmon for felony theft and trafficking in stolen property Monday night after executing a search warrant at his residence as part of an investigation into fraudulent bank checks.
On Monday afternoon, Sierra Vista Police Department (SVPD) detectives learned that 11 forged and fraudulent bank checks were deposited into a bank account over a one week period. The account belonged to Allmon, a 54-year-old Sierra Vista resident, and money was immediately withdrawn by Allmon at ATMs following the deposits.
Additional investigation revealed that Allmon became entangled in a common financial scam involving groups targeting those seeking a quick fix to their credit rating and a future loan. The group remotely deposits forged and fraudulent bank checks into a person’s account and then requires the person to purchase and send the group prepaid credit cards or gift cards. This often leaves financial institutions with large losses associated with the negative account balances accrued before the checks are identified as fraudulent.
SVPD detectives discovered that Allmon made arrangements to purchase a fire truck in June of 2017 on behalf of Huachuca City. Four extrication tools commonly known as “the jaws of life” were included in that purchase. Detectives learned that Allmon sold one of these tools to another area fire department and kept the proceeds from the sale, depositing them into an account he shares with a family member.
Allmon was arrested following the execution of a search warrant in the vicinity of 100 West Tacoma Street in Sierra Vista on Monday evening. He was charged with felony theft over $1,000 and trafficking in stolen property.
“We urge citizens to be skeptical of scams that make false promises of quickly improved credit scores, future payday loans, and lottery winnings,” Sierra Vista Police Department Sgt. Brian Sebastian says. “When it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”