On August 14, 2025, South St. Paul officers were called about a bank fraud case involving a client, Sirena Marie Lenz ([DOB REDACTED]). LENZ had been in constant contact with the bank after the bank froze her account due to fraudulent transactions. LENZ had contacted the South St. Paul Police Department on August 11, 2025, and August 14, 2025, but did not answer any return calls. On August 19, 2025, LENZ went into the police department to report fraudulent activity on her bank account. LENZ told officers that she had received a life insurance payout for her son in the amount of $65,000. LENZ brought in multiple bank statements.
LENZ told officers that she didn’t know where the money was going, and she was suspicious of her bank. When officers tried to narrow down which transactions may be fraudulent, LENZ was not able to provide an answer. After looking at her statements, it was clear that LENZ had made the following mobile deposits into her account using the life insurance checkbook: $2,500 on June 30, 2025 $5,000 on July 1, 2025 $5,000 on July 3, 2025 $220 on July 7, 2025 Officers talked with the fraud department at the bank on August 19, 2025, to get a better understanding.
The bank informed officers that the checks were deposited via mobile deposit and the funds were entered into LENZ’s account a few days later. The life insurance company declined the funds due to the life insurance account being exhausted when the mobile deposits were made. LENZ’s account went into the negative once the life insurance company declined the funds. LENZ’s account was then frozen. LENZ’s overdraft balance was a total of $7,930.67. After further investigation, officers learned that the total life insurance account of $65,000 was paid out to LENZ on June 4, 2025. LENZ then used the life insurance checkbook to write $12,720 worth of worthless checks and deposited them to her bank account.
All of the checks were endorsed by LENZ and put into her online banking account.
