Windsor police say two women have been arrested after local financial institutions lost thousands of dollars from cheque fraud.

A bank employee at the Scotiabank at 3751 Tecumseh Rd E recognized the name of the account holder called police at 11:10 a.m. Tuesday for a report of a fraud in progress.

The two female suspects were in the process of having a cheque deposited into an account. Police say in the past few months, the suspects were cashing and depositing non-sufficient funds cheques from closed accounts at a number of Windsor area financial institutions, resulting in thousands of dollars in losses.

Annette Chittenden, 45, of Windsor, faces nine counts of making false pretences, and three counts of fraud under $5000.

An 18-year-old Windsor woman faces one count of fraud under $5000.