Bedford recovers $250,000 in bilked money
Illinois man tried to scam county out of nearly $250,000
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An Illinois man has been accused of stealing nearly $250,000 from Bedford County, but the money has been recovered, county commissioners assured residents Thursday.
A public statement issued by commissioner Mike Stiles explained that on July 10, the Bedford County Courthouse was the victim of fraud in the amount of $247,230.
The payment was made by the county's finance department for an invoice it received from Cottle's Asphalt Maintenance, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
The invoice and the dollar amount were expected for work performed by Cottle's and the finance department processed the payment. It was only found to be a spoof/scam email when the finance department attempted to confirm delivery with the company, court documents state.
The email containing the invoice used a known signature block and Cottle's letterhead, however, the signature was of a former employee, whose name remained on the company's website, state police reported.
Searching through the email chain, state police turned up a routing number which, using search warrants for information from Citibank, was traced to 74-year-old Wayne Michale Radosky of Arlington Heights, Illinois.
Police viewed video surveillance which showed Radosky enter the bank on July 14 and exchange paperwork with a teller. Bank statements show a $15,000 cash withdrawal was made after Bedford County transferred the $247,230 into the account, police reported.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Radosky, according to court documents.
District Attorney Ashlan Clark said Pennsylvania State Police are working with local authorities in Illinois to apprehend Radosky, who will be extradited back to Bedford County to face two felony counts each of theft and forgery, along with single felony counts of receiving stolen property and access device fraud.
"Through the efforts of the bank's fraud investigation team, Bedford County successfully recovered $208,544.69 of the fraudulent transaction," Stiles said in a statement. "The remaining $38,685.31 was reimbursed through the County's social engineering fraud liability insurance coverage, resulting in no financial loss to Bedford County taxpayers."
Stiles said the case highlights the increasingly sophisticated nature of cybercrime and social engineering scams
"Bedford County has taken steps to strengthen its safeguards," Stiles said in the public statement. "The County has implemented enhanced financial controls, and expanded cybersecurity awareness and training programs across all departments to help prevent similar incidents in the future."
This is the second large fraud scheme reported in Bedford County this year.
In August, the Bedford Area School District was the victim of a $1.6 million theft allegedly by a 70-year-old Indianapolis man who submitted a fraudulent invoice in the name of a contractor working on the district's renovation project. Those funds were also recovered and the suspect, Terry Michael Reckert, remains in the Bedford County Correctional Facility unable to post $500,000 bail. Reckert is due for a preliminary hearing in Central Court on Sept. 30.