Published: October 05, 2007 12:06 am      

Pair charged with writing bad bingo checks

CRESSON — An Altoona couple’s number came up – and not in a good way – after police said they repeatedly cheated charity bingo.

Dennis Vaughn and his wife, Sharon, both of the 2700 block of Oak Avenue, reportedly cashed 88 bad checks totaling $16,785 over five months at a charity bingo to benefit St. Michael’s Parochial School in Loretto.

The Vaughns were arraigned on the charges this week before District Judge Charity Nileski.

The woman who operates the bingo said Thursday that she’s angry about the losses and about a recovery company’s failure to notify her in a timely manner of difficulties in getting the couple to pay.

The husband faces 49 misdemeanor counts and the wife 39 counts – two summary and 37 misdemeanors.

Dennis Vaughn was released after posting $50,000 bond. Sharon Vaughn was freed on $30,000 bond.

Sharon Vaughn supposedly cashed bad checks in amounts ranging from $60 to $250 between March 20 and April 24. Dennis Vaughn is accused of cashing checks ranging in amounts of $125 to $500 between May 1 and July 27.

St. Michael’s bingo is operated two nights a week for the school fund of the Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel, Chairwoman Myrna Hoover said.

Hoover said that, occasionally, there is a problem with a bad check, which ordinarily is resolved quickly by the recovery company.

“Only one time I had to take a woman to court for $4,000,” she recalled of the 17 years that she’s been in charge of the game.

This time, the company failed to notify her of the problems it was having in collecting the money, and the Vaughns continued writing bad checks before the practice was halted, Hoover said.

“I’m so angry about this. This is school funds,” she said.

With a $25 service charge for each bad check, the couple, if convicted, would owe more than $20,000, Hoover said.