AUSTIN — Two women have pleaded not guilty to charges that they stole checks from a Glenville business and used an Austin man to cash them.

Lilly Ann Garcia, 25, and Irma Aide Sanchez, 27, both of Gordonsville, both pleaded not guilty to  five counts of felony check forgery in Mower County District Court — one for attempting to defraud for a total of more than $2,500.

According to the court complaint, the women allegedly cashed checks through a middle man who runs a check-cashing business at his home in Austin. That victim reported both women to the Austin police on July 21 after he became suspicious; he discovered his account had a negative balance of $8,000.

Police went to the victim’s home on July 21, where they confronted Sanchez about the checks. Sanchez called Garcia, who later arrived and appeared suspicious, as she asked if she was going to be arrested, according to court files. Austin police arrested both women.

From June 21 to July 19, the women allegedly cashed checks for $2,300, $5,800, $8,500 and $850 by using the victim. The checks were all from Bridley’s Auto in Glenville. Police discovered that both women are being investigated in Freeborn County for allegedly stealing the checks from Bridley’s Auto. The women said the owner of Bridley’s is their landlord, they work for him and he wrote them the checks; however, the owner said he never wrote the checks, according to the court complaint.

Sanchez and Garcia have pretrials set for Sept. 20 and 21, respectively.