BANK MISROUTES BOX OF CHECKS; WOMAN SUFFERS CONSEQUENCES : OVERDRAFT PROTECTION DEPLETED SAVINGS, TOO, FRAUD VICTIM SAYS.

Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer

June Franz's nightmare began Nov. 12 when she realized the new box of checks she ordered hadn't come.

Frantic, she called the bank for replacement checks but it was too late. Forgers had written checks totaling more than $4,300, using the Wells Fargo Bank checks mistakenly sent to her old address. Ultimately, her checking and savings accounts were looted of more than $900 in cash and related fees.

``I'm just so livid,'' said Franz, an unemployed mother of two who is studying to become a private detective. ``They not only drained my checking account but my savings account. They took everything I had.''

Bank officials said they have filed a police report, assigned an investigative team to the case and issued letters of apology to Franz's creditors.

``She's been reimbursed. She sustained no loss,'' said Carol Braun, manager of the Canyon Country branch on Soledad Canyon Road.

Sheriff's officials have no leads on the forgers who wrote eight checks totaling $4,368.26. Braun said the bank honored four checks, totaling $816.26 and paid Franz $98 in overdraft protection and returned item fees charged to her account for a total reimbursement of $914.26.

Franz disputes the bank's figures, saying the bank still owes her about $3,550 because the forgers successfully cashed the checks, which later bounced because of insufficient funds. She has a statement that shows four checks - three for about $900 each and one for $850 - were drawn on her checking account, which automatically pulls from her savings account to cover checks.

``I'm still out money,'' she said.

Bank officials, she said, have told her they are tracing the original checks to Wells Fargo's headquarters. Franz's checks are written on carbons so the originals are not returned with her monthly statements, but filed in bank archives.

Franz also said she's been left to deal with the fallout of the forged checks. She said her credit history is ruined and she is forced to pay all her bills in cash.

``I'm still feeling the repercussions from this. I have to verify whether a check is paid or not,'' she said. ``I have been dealing in nothing but cash because I'm terrified my checks might bounce'' or become confused with those written by the forgers.

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Photo: (color in SAC edition only) June Franz holds up a bank statement and another paper containing notes of checking activity after her checks were stolen.

Terri Thuente/Daily News