JEWELER INDICTED IN FRAUD CANYON COUNTRY MAN FACES FEDERAL CHARGES.

Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer

LOS ANGELES - A Canyon Country jeweler has been indicted on federal charges that accuse him of siphoning nearly $3 million from nine bank accounts using forged checks and phony wire transfer authorization letters, officials said.

Nelson Altounian, 52, was indicted Thursday by a U.S. District Court grand jury on 12 counts of bank fraud, three counts of wire fraud and three counts of lying on a loan application, court records show.

Altounian is not yet in custody but is expected to be summoned to appear in federal court by the U.S. Attorneys Office, FBI officials said.

The indictment claims Altounian and several ``known and unknown co- schemers'' withdrew a total of $837,000 from an account at Everen Securities Inc., through fraudulent interstate wire transfers and forged cashiers checks made payable to Altounian's jewelry store, Gold Crest Jewelers.

Altounian and his cohorts faxed phony wire transfer authorization letters to the bank and moved the money into a Wells Fargo Bank account, and from there, directly into a Bank of America account held by Altounian, according to the indictment.

The grand jury further claimed Altounian used the money he received through the wire transfers and cashiers checks to purchase gold.

Twelve of the charges facing Altounian stem from a series of forged checks he allegedly issued. The checks, which totaled more than $2 million, were provided to Altounian by ``unknown co-schemers'' and included personal checks as well as cashiers checks and state treasury checks, according to the indictment.

The remaining three charges facing Altounian stem from his use of three phony U.S. tax returns to obtain a $26,000 loan from People's Bank, officials said.

Altounian and his co-schemers allegedly committed the scam through early 1997, according to the indictment.

FBI officials are continuing to investigate the case and further arrests are pending, said Cheryl Mimura, FBI spokeswoman.