The University Record, January 14, 1997
By Rebecca A. Doyle
Woman charged
with retail fraud
A woman not
affiliated with the University waived a preliminary
hearing scheduled for
Jan. 8 and was bound over to Washtenaw County
Circuit Court. She is
charged on two counts of non-sufficient funds
for five checks that she
wrote at the Michigan Union Bookstore.
Student
charged
with theft of microscope
An undergraduate student at
the University was arrested Dec. 10 and
charged with theft of a microscope
that Department of Public Safety
(DPS) officers found in his room during
an investigation involving
other felony charges. The microscope, worth
about $1,200, had been
missing since October from the Natural Science
Building.
Fire damages residence
at Northwood
V
A fire that DPS officers originally thought might be arson left
in
its wake structural damage in excess of $100,000. During
the
investigation of the Northwood V residence, officers found
materials
that had been carelessly stored near a hot water heater in
the
basement of the building were responsible for the blaze, and
they
ruled the cause accidental. Officers say that support beams and
the
floor of the structure will need to be
replaced.
Beware of letters
from Nigeria soliciting
funds
Capt. James Smiley of the Department of Public Safety urges
members
of the University community to be on the lookout for
letters
postmarked from Nigeria requesting individual bank
account
information. Last spring, letters addressed to individual
University
faculty, staff and students promised a sizable return on
investment
in Nigerian oil. Recipients of the letters were urged to send
their
personal bank account numbers in order to reap the benefits of
oil
held in reserve during the Persian Gulf War.
Smiley cautions members of the University community never to give out account information, since that and identification can be used to further a number of fraudulent activities and could result in substantial financial loss.
Although no losses have been reported to DPS, officers are working with the U.S. Secret Service to ascertain the origin of the letters, which have begun to appear again on campus. Smiley urges anyone who receives such a letter to contact DPS at 763-3434.