St. Paul man charged with issuing nearly $200K in bad checks

A St. Paul man wrote nearly $200,000 in bad checks for about three years on a bank account that had been closed most of that time, according to charges filed this week.

Adam J. Jewett-Perrizo, 34, was charged Thursday and Friday in 20 separate criminal cases in Ramsey County District Court for alleged fraudulent behavior that lasted from July 2012 to April 2015.

He faces 39 charges, including multiple counts of issuance of dishonored checks, theft by false representation and theft by check.

Jewett-Perrizo wrote the checks on a TCF Bank account that he opened in July 2012 with $25. He never deposited any more money in the account, which TCF closed a month later.

But he continued to write checks ranging from about $30 to $22,000 to family members, businesses, creditors, state agencies and several others.

TCF Financial Corp. spokesman Mark Goldman said Friday that the bank was able to go back and retroactively spot the pattern of fraud in Jewett-Perrizo's account, but could not detect the fraudulent checks as they were written.

"There is no active way in the banking industry, in real time, to detect when an individual is writing checks on a closed account," he said.

"It's really the responsibility of the individuals receiving the check to verify that it in fact is a good check," he said.

The criminal complaints don't provide insight into what motivated Jewett-Perrizo, but they show that he didn't appear to make huge profits or gains from his alleged fraud.

Jewett-Perrizo did obtain some goods and services: a voice lesson, new countertops and backsplash for a home he planned to buy but didn't, and plumbing work, among others.

He also used bad checks to pay for a photographer and cake for his 2012 wedding. The photographer took pictures, but didn't release them to Jewett-Perrizo when he learned that the check for $2,428.75 had bounced.

Buttercream bakery in St. Paul learned of a bad $217.50 check earlier and demanded and received payment before delivering the wedding cake.

Some team members never made it to Florida. Those who did were forced to return and never played in the tournament.

"Once in Florida, there was no lodging for the team as Jewett-Perrizo had promised," said a criminal complaint. "There were no rental cars as Jewett-Perrizo had promised."

"When confronted, [his wife] Tracy Perrizo admitted that Adam Jewett-Perrizo is a pathological liar…," the complaint said.

The complaints didn't reveal a larger purpose behind the alleged actions.

In 2012, he allegedly wrote five checks totaling $94,000 to his father-in-law. "It is unknown why Jewett-Perrizo would write worthless checks to his father-in-law…," the complaint said.

Jewett-Perrizo could not be reached for comment Friday.

Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708