A Brownsville tax preparer is behind bars after she allegedly created more than $754,500 dollars in counterfeit checks.
U.S. Secret Service agents arrested 35-year-old Maria Olivia Vasquez on a federal counterfeit security charge on Tuesday.
Court records released on Wednesday show that Vasquez tried to deposit or cash 12 checks worth $754,500 dollars at a Lone Star National Bank back on June 23rd.
The counterfeit checks were drawn in the names of a McAllen businessman and a Pharr pediatrician.
A business manager for the pediatrician told Secret Service agents that the doctor’s signature appeared to be forged.
It’s not clear if Vasquez knew either the pediatrician or the businessman but records show she ran “Olivia’s Tax Service” out of her home near the intersection of Vienna and Venice Streets in northwest Brownsville.
Vasquez appeared before U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Ronald Morgan in Brownsville on Wednesday morning.
Judge Morgan denied bond for Vasquez until a Monday afternoon hearing.
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