$500K more in scam money recovered

Madison County is still seeking to recover about $600,000 they were scammed out of last year by fraudsters claiming to be a construction company. 

County Administrator Greg Higginbotham told supervisors on Tuesday that another $500,000 was recovered last week, bringing the total collected to $2.12 million of the $2.7 million stolen. 

“That recover is largely due to the efforts of law enforcement,” Higginbotham said. He thanked the U.S. Secret Service, FBI, Mississippi Attorney General and Madison County Sheriff’s Department for their continued efforts in recovering the money. 

Madison County Sheriff Chief Deputy Jeremy Williams told supervisors that the case is ongoing and there is the possibility for arrests in the future. 

“We are still optimistic for future recovery,” he said. “Until that happens, we can’t be sure.”

Board President Gerald Steen thanked law enforcement and the county for continuing to work on the recovery. 

“We appreciate everything y’all are doing to work with the agencies to help us get back $2.12 million out of the $2.7 million and hopefully we’ll see more coming in the days ahead of us back in the bank account,” he said. 

In March 2024, the county comptroller fell victim to a sophisticated social engineering scam that resulted in over $2.7 million of State Aid bond monies allocated for Reunion Parkway being sent to a fraudster. 

The board was first alerted to the scheme on March 19, when it was discovered that $2,741,243.69 was paid to someone claiming to be the president of Hemphill Construction. 

Comptroller Na’Son White sent electronic ACH payments to someone claiming to be Jay Hemphill, the CEO of Hemphill Construction Co., the contractor currently working on the Reunion Parkway project, according to the Sheriff’s Office incident report. 

White sent three payments beginning on Feb. 20, 2024, for $128,989.97. A second payment of $1,073,870.66 was made on March 5, and a final payment of $1,538,383.06 was made on March 12.

According to the incident report, the county purchasing clerk received an initial email later forwarded to County Administrator Greg Higginbotham before being forwarded to White.

The email requested a change in the bank account for payment. 

Since then, the county has increased its cyber insurance, which was only at $100,000, and invested tens of thousands in training and an outside auditor.