County recovers $1.4M in fraud case
Madison County has recovered over $1.4 million in millions they were scammed out of earlier this year by fraudsters claiming to be a construction company.
Sheriff Randy Tucker updated supervisors on Monday about the ongoing investigation stemming from the March fraud that cost taxpayers $2.7 million.
“The last time I gave an update, we had recovered about $895,000 of that amount,” Tucker said. “Today, I’m happy to report we’ve recovered an additional amount.”
Tucker said the total recovered now is a little over $1.41 million.
“Suspects have been identified and arrests are pending,” he said. “The investigation is ongoing.”
Tucker said he didn’t have a definitive timeline, but said it could be wrapped up in the next three months.
“It’s going to be an extended timeframe beyond that before any additional money recovery,” he said, pointing to legal remedies such as civil asset forfeiture. “I do expect additional amounts. I’m excited about those possibilities.”
In March, 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 to be 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 which was 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.