$134,000 forged check still a mystery

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The mystery of a $134,000 forged check from Delaware County’s Liberty Township to a used-car dealer in Great Britain still is apparently unsolved.

Liberty Township’s fiscal officer, Nancy Denutte, discovered the apparently bogus check while reconciling checks to the township’s bank statement in May.

Denutte told The Gazette earlier this week she hasn’t heard from anyone about the check. “I don’t expect to hear anything,” she said.

The check was made out to a used-car dealer in Great Britain, Saunders Abbott, in Sidcup near London and processed through the Royal Bank of Scotland.

“The check number was one that we haven’t even gotten up to (in the sequence),” Denutte told The Gazette earlier. She has confirmed that the township has not yet ordered checks in a numerical range consistent with the forged check.

Denutte said she believes the forgery — in the amount of $134,000 — occurred completely online. “I don’t think it’s anybody that works for us,” she said.

The check was cashed by the Royal Bank of Scotland who sent it to the Delaware County Bank which has the township’s account. “I contacted our bank,” Denutte said earlier. “The money was back in our account the next day.”

Denutte signed up for “Positive Pay,” a service of the Delaware County Bank after the incident. Each month the township sends a list of written checks to the bank. “If the check is not on the list, they don’t pay the check,” Denutte said.

The Gazette contacted the Delaware County Bank this week for comment to see if the bank had heard anything about the investigation of the forged check.

“We continue to have no comments on this situation,” said Jay Wolf, marketing and customer relations.

The sheriff’s office got involved in the case on May 3 when deputies were called to the Liberty Township offices in Powell.

Township officials turned the forged check over to the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office which has turned it over to federal authorities.

Officials from the sheriff’s office said Tuesday they are unable to comment about the ongoing investigation.

By D. Anthony Botkin

[email protected]

D. Anthony Botkin may be reached at 740-413-0902 or on Twitter @dabotkin.

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