Ambler Borough Police Department. Photo by James Short.
Ambler Borough Police Department has made an arrest stemming from an August incident at a local bank.
According to a criminal complaint, a man walked into the Ambler Savings Bank on Aug. 27, 2024, around 2:39 p.m. and obtained his new debit card from the bank associate (at around 2:51 p.m.). Police said that after making a transaction with that teller, he also produced a check for deposit.
Branden Lamar Gordon, 33, of the 7000 block of Glenloch Street in Philadelphia, was later identified as the man who presented the teller at the Ambler Savings Bank for $7,145.91, which he claimed was a “tax refund” check, said the complaint. Police said that Gordon presented his Pennsylvania-issued photo identification when depositing the check, endorsing it with his signature. He exited the bank at 2:55 p.m., police said.
Employees with Ambler Savings Bank later examined the check and “were suspicious of the check’s appearance,” stating that the “feel of the paper it was printed on” did not feel authentic and was “inconsistent with United States Treasury checks they had dealt with in the past,” said the complaint.
The bank was able to put a nine-day hold on the check as staff reached out to the U.S. Treasury, police said. Both the bank’s chief relationship officer and the Ambler branch office received notification in that time that the check was counterfeit, the criminal complaint said. Surveillance video shows Gordon from the time he arrives in a white Dodge Caravan through the Butler Avenue entrance, until he leaves after his transactions, police said.
Police traced Gordon via both his address on the presented identification and the matching address on the counterfeit check, said police. An arrest and preliminary arraignment were made on Jan. 10, 2025.
Gordon is charged with four felonies, including counts of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, forgery, theft by unlawful taking, and theft by deception, as well as a misdemeanor charge of possessing the instruments of a crime.
Gordon was released on a signature bond after his arrest and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 24 at 10:30 a.m. before Magisterial District Judge Douglas H. Lavenberg.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
