Counterfeit cashier's checks drawn on Parish National Bank, Covington, Louisiana, are reportedly in circulation

The Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC) has notified the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) of a recently issued OCC Alert concerning counterfeit cashier's checks being issued in the name of Parish National Bank, Covington, Louisiana.

The OCC Alert stated that counterfeit items usually list the remitter as either Arex Brown or Apex Brown and bear the signature of Patti Nelson. The counterfeit items appear to be a reproduction of an actual cashier's check and are blue and white in color. The checks do not have MICR ink numbers or watermarks. All of the counterfeit checks have six-digit numbers beginning with "431." Authentic cashier's checks are blue and white in color and bear the logo of Parish National Bank in the upper-center portion of the check. The words "Cashier's Check" appear in the upper-right corner of the check. The authentic checks contain watermarks.

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

Judy Cazaux
Office Support Manager
Parish National Bank
Telephone: (985) 898-5458
Fax: (985) 898-5443
Email: judyc@parishnational.com

Information about these instruments may be forwarded to the FDIC's Cyber Fraud and Financial Crimes Section, 550 17th Street, N.W., Room F-4004, 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 website 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