NEW ALBANY, Ind. — A New Albany business owner says his clinic's finances are at a standstill after becoming a victim of check washing.
Dr. Thomas Briscoe, owner of On the Spot Chiropractic, said multiple law enforcement agencies, including the New Albany Police Department, are investigating after a rent check was stolen from his business’s mailbox sometime between Tuesday and Wednesday and fraudulently duplicated.
WHAS11 has reached out to a New Albany Police Department spokesperson for an update on the investigation but is still waiting to hear back.
The United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) website defines check washing as “scams [that involve] changing the payee names and often the dollar amounts on checks and fraudulently depositing them.
According to the USPIS site, occasionally checks are stolen out of mailboxes and altered one of two ways: checks are washed in chemicals to remove ink or copied and scanned by scammers who print fake copies.
Briscoe said seven fraudulent checks were created: four were unsuccessfully cashed at local banks, while one $875 check was successfully cashed.
“Within a four hour time frame, [suspects] hit five banks and tried to cash six checks,” Briscoe said. “We're looking close to [$7,000] in total of attempted cashing of checks that are sitting in my checkbook back here.”
He said his business’s account has been frozen since Wednesday. With cash flow stagnant and payroll set to hit Friday, Briscoe said pressure is mounting.
“We've got five employees一three full time一that depend on that check completely,” he said. “Then obviously, [my] family一we've got three small kids and bills.”
Briscoe said the New Albany Police officers have shared names of suspects with him. WHAS11 is working to confirm those details with law enforcement.
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