Two Irvine High School students were arrested on Dec. l9 after they were found holding several personal checks that did not belong to them, authorities said.

The Korean Americans, ages l5 and l7, were taken into custody at the school and later booked on suspicion of forgery and possession of completed checks, Irvine Police Sgt. Bob Richardson said.

"We don? know exactly how they got in possession of the checks. We?e still investigating how they got them," Richardson said. "We don? know if they?e cashed any checks."

A school resource officer was talking to the l7-year-old on campus on Dec. 19 about a truancy and received permission from the student to search his notebook, Richardson said. The officer allegedly found a check for $8,000 that had recently been reported stolen from a home in Irvine, authorities said.

The l7-year-old told the officer about the second student, who later consented to a search of his wallet, which allegedly contained a check for $5,000 and another for $3,000.

Those checks belonged to a person who lives in Carson, and police have not talked to that person yet.