Scammers bilk Earle out of $4,000

Scammers bilk Earle out of $4,000

City victims of check-stealing scheme

By Mark Randall

news@theeveningtimes.com For the second time in a month, the City of Earle has been the victim of check fraud – this time in the Water Department.

Water Department Manager Danny Clark told the City Council that somebody wrote two fraudulent checks on their account.

“They got us for about $4,000,” Clark said.

Clark said the activity was suspicious because they only write checks to a few places.

“The only checks we had out were to a couple of places where we do business with like Craighead Electric,” Clark said.

Last month, crooks attempted to defraud the city of close to $7,000.

The scammer wrote three checks – one for $2,166, $2,149, and $2,065. The checks looked exactly like the ones the city uses down to the account and routing number, except that it had First National Bank of Earle printed instead of First National Bank in Forrest City. The checks were also not in the proper sequence.

Fortunately, an alert employee at Wells Fargo Bank noticed the activity and contacted the city. All of the checks were stopped except for the one for $2,065.

Arkansas Municipal League told the city that Earle is not the only city in Arkansas that has been victimized.

West Memphis was also recently victimized when a scammer stole a utility check from a Dallas Post Office box and attempted to bilk that city out of $175,000 with a check intended for Entergy. The thieves attempted to duplicate the check and alter the payee. A bank in Alabama discovered the fraud and stopped payment.

Clark asked whether the city ever found out who was responsible.

“Did they ever determine how they came up with that?” Clark asked.

City Treasurer Cynthia Conner said the Municipal League is investigating the matter to determine whether it could be an inside job by someone with access to account information.

“They have formed a team to try and go through all of their accounts,” Conner said. “They are thinking it is somebody tied in to all of these municipalities.”

City pays off

Water Truck

In other business, Clark reported that the Water Department paid off a loan they had on a pickup truck. Clark said he paid the remaining $11,000 on the loan using funds from a money market checking account.

“You might have noticed that the money market checking account was a little lower this month,” Clark said. “We paid off the truck that we bought last year. We’ve got enough money and went and paid it off.”

The City Council authorized the department to buy a truck in August 2017 to replace a 2004 model that was worn out and no longer able to be used to haul their equipment.

The Water Department got a price from the state bid list for a 3/4-ton Ford F-250 and paid about $29,839 for the truck. Payments were $393 a month for five years.

Clark said the Water Department’s finances were in a position to where they could pay it off.

“We saw we had enough money to pay it off,” Clark said.

Mayor Sherman Smith asked if the Water Commission signed off on it.

“Was that the recommendation of the Water Commission?” Smith asked.

Clark said he asked the Water Commission for permission because it was affecting his credit because he was a co-signer on the loan.

“Yes, I asked them if we could,” Clark said. “I asked them to do it because I co-signed for the truck. We had to have someone be the responsible party for it when we bought it. So I co-signed for it. I didn't realize it would be affecting my credit. So I asked them to please get it paid off so I could get it off my credit report.”

Lisa Taylor, Arkansas Heritage Director Stacy Hurst and Loretta Tacker. Tacker’s Shake Shack has been for the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame, one of 10 selected from hundreds of nominations.

Submitted photo