Vallejo Woman Arrested in Fraudulent Check Investigation

A team effort between Novato and Sonoma police led to the Tuesday arrest of a woman linked to fraud and burglary cases all over the North Bay, police said Wednesday.

Sonoma police watched Saundra Djafarzadeh, 38, pull out of her Vallejo driveway on Tuesday and then pulled her over, Sonoma police Sgt. Dave Thompson said. She was arrested on suspicion of check fraud and commercial burglary, and a search of her house yielded equipment believed to be used in creating fraudulent checks. She faces numerous felony charges.

Thompson said information from Novato police about fake check-passing incidents helped lead to the arrest of Djafarzadeh, who is also known as Parnian Clark.

"They were the ones who turned us on to her," Thompson said of the Novato detectives. "We were able to put together a photo lineup of suspects and showed it to a clerk at Safeway. They were really good about passing on information."

Djafarzadeh is suspected of passing fake checks at numerous Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Safeway stores throughout the North Bay. When she was arrested, she was in possession of several fake checks, about 30 gift cards and identification cards belonging to other people, Thompson said. A subsequent search of her Vallejo residence revealed color printers with reams of blank-check stock in them, check-making documents and programs as well as numerous fraudulent checks, Thompson said. 

Djafarzadeh also is accused of passing four separate fictitious checks at a Sonoma Safeway store on two days over the past month. Hundreds of dollars worth of gift cards were purchased using the bogus checks, which were created with names, addresses and bank account information of other people, he said.

Investigators will pass on evidence to an identity theft task force, Thompson said.