WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — Williamson County commissioners this week voted on a resolution to write off more than $20,000 in taxpayer money they likely will never recover after a check-washing scam.
The county's budget and finance director, Phoebe Reilly, told commissioners her office had been carrying a bad check on the books. The check was originally written for $881.08 to pay an expense.
"The check was intercepted somewhere between our mailbox and the vendor's mailbox. It was white washed and changed to $20,881.08," Reilly said.
According to county documents, the incident happened in 2024. The Williamson County Sheriff's Office investigated.
Investigators traced the altered check back to a woman in Florida, but she turned out to be a victim of identity theft herself. No one has been held accountable.
"I've been told there's a little to no chance we're going to get the money because they can't identify the person," Reilly said.
One commissioner raised the stakes of the loss during the meeting.
"I'm just curious, was anyone held accountable for that check? It was a theft and $20,000 is fairly significant," Commissioner Mary Smith said.
Former FBI Agent Scott Augenbaum said check washing is a decades-old crime, but there are protections agencies can put in place.
"I hate to say it, whenever you're putting something in the mail, mailing a check, we've seen so many times how the bad guys are able to get their hands on a piece of mail," Augenbaum said.
Augenbaum pointed to a system called positive pay — a bank matching system that compares checks and payments against a pre-approved list — as one solution.
"This way whenever you're writing a check it's going to a known participant so the bad guys can't intercept it," Augenbaum said.
Williamson County has since started using positive pay. Reilly said her office has also added additional safeguards and double-checks internally.
"My staff has gone through additional training, we've met with the bank," Reilly said.
Augenbaum said the county is on the right track.
"I think they're doing everything right now," Augenbaum said.
The resolution to write off the loss passed. The $20,000 is gone, but the county appears to have a tighter hold on taxpayer dollars going forward.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Amanda.Roberts@NewsChannel5.com
This story was reported on-air by Amanda Roberts and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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