Counterfeit cashier’s checks drawn on Community First National Bank, Fargo, North Dakota, are reportedly in circulation

Bank of the West, San Francisco, California, as successor-in-interest to Community First National Bank, Fargo, North Dakota, has contacted the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to report that counterfeit cashier's checks bearing the name of Community First National Bank are in circulation.

The counterfeit items display the proper routing number of 096016765, which was the payable-through bank for Community First National Bank. Bank of The West acquired Community First National Bank effective December 3, 2004. As a result, Community First National Bank official checks that are dated after the conversion date of December 3, 2004, may be counterfeit since only official checks of Bank of the West are being issued. Copies of a counterfeit item and an authentic cashier's check (VOID) issued by the Fargo branch are attached for your review.

Any information you have concerning this matter should be brought to the attention of:

Tyson Zeltinger
Investigator-Midwest Region
Bank of the West
520 North Main Avenue
Fargo, North Dakota 58124
Telephone: (701) 271-6614
Fax: (701) 271-6620
Email: tzeltinger@bankofthewest.com

Information about these instruments may be forwarded to the FDIC's Special Activities Section, 550 17th Street, N.W., Room F-4040, Washington, D.C. 20429, or transmitted electronically to alert@fdic.gov. Information related to federal deposit insurance or consumer issues should be submitted to the FDIC using an online form that can be accessed at http://www2.fdic.gov/starsmail/index.asp.

For your reference, FDIC Special Alerts may be accessed from the FDIC's Web site at www.fdic.gov/news/news/SpecialAlert/2005/index.html. To learn how to automatically receive FDIC Special Alerts through e-mail, please visit www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.

Michael J. ZamorskiDirector
Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection