Illinois man arraigned in Bedford County scam case
Radosky accused of defrauding county out of nearly $250K
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The Illinois man accused of stealing nearly $250,000 from Bedford County in July was arraigned Thursday afternoon on six previously filed felony counts related to the case.
Wayne Michael Radosky, 41, of Arlington Heights, Illinois, is facing two felony counts each of theft and forgery, as well as single felony counts of receiving stolen property and access device fraud. He was extradited to Bedford County from Illinois and is being held at the Bedford County Correctional Facility in lieu of $300,000 bail.
A public statement issued by commissioner Mike Stiles in mid-September 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 Radosky. 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.
"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."
Radosky is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Nov. 4 in front of Magisterial District Judge Kevin R. Diehl.