Four people from the Kailua-Kona area have been arrested and charged for forgery for allegedly making and distributing fraudulent business checks in the area since February.

The Hawaii Police Department said in a news release today that detectives with the police department, along with the Sheriff’s Department and the U.S. Secret Services, arrested two men and two women for multiple counts of forgery.

The police department said that the fraudulent checks resulted in the theft of money from different businesses and banks.

Lealofitaute Soares, 42, Bailey Kurashige, 25, and Chandler Palakiko, 30, were arrested and charged on Tuesday. Lane Miyake-Kamahele, 26, was arrested and charged Wednesday.

Soares, Kurashige and Palakiko were each charged with one count of first-degree forgery and one count of criminal conspiracy. A $17,000 bail was set for each of them, and they each remained in police custody until their initial court appearances on Wednesday.

Miyake-Kamahele’s charges and bail were the same, and he remained in custody until is initial court appearance today.