Bell County Motoworks falls victim to fraudulent cashier’s check scheme
According to a report on KCEN 6 News’ website, the Temple Police Department is investigating a series of forgery incidents involving fake cashier’s checks.
One of the victims of the scheme is Bell County Motoworks in Temple, Texas. The dealership’s general manager, Eric Hermanson, says he’s shocked about how they fell victim.
“As long as I’ve been doing this, I’ve never seen this, I’ve never encountered this,” Hermanson told KCEN. “I’ve heard of scams going around with checks and so forth, but I’ve never seen anything of this magnitude, and his demeanor, the way he did it, was very good.”
Hermanson told the news station that a man came into the dealership on Saturday, Oct. 12, and bought a Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special for $23,000. Hermanson admits he had reservations at first, but then he was given a check that looked legitimate.
“He mentioned that he won a settlement from an accident, and he had an accountant that handled his money, and he took the amount with him that he needed, went to the accountant, brought back a cashier’s check,” Hermanson explains. “All said and done, paperwork was done, put the tag on it, and he left happy as can be.”
The check cleared, but then Bell County Motoworks received a call from another Temple business stating that $23,000 was missing, and it was tied to a purchase from the motorcycle dealer.
Shortly after, Hermanson discovered the man had used a fraudulent check with stolen banking information from another local business. It then unfolded that other dealerships in the area had been hit by the same type of scheme.
The case is under investigation, so not many details were provided. However, Hermanson says he will probably not accept a check going forward unless he knows the person or has verified the funds with the bank.
Source: KCEN 6 News