The Georgetown Police released this copy of a fraudulent check.
GPD warns of check scam
Chief Coburn receives numerous calls
By BRYAN PECK Associate editor
GEORGETOWN - Police Chief Buddy Coburn updated the village on several incidents that have been taking place in the village at the Thursday, Oct. 23 village council meeting. According to Coburn, the village has been experiencing a rash of break-ins, as well as a current bad check scam that several people in the village have been hit with.
Coburn said that he has made several attempts to protect residents against the current check scam by having press releases about the problem printed in the local newspapers and by informing residents to not cash any strange checks that they get in the mail. According to Coburn, checks or money orders are usually sent to the victims with a cover letter stating that they have won or received a large sum of money. Coburn said that the checks can range from anywhere between $3,500 and $50,000.
Cobrun said that the checks usually come through U.S. Mail and Fed Ex and look legitimate and request that part of the money is sent back to the individual or organization that sent it. However, the victim will usually end up getting stuck with the charge to process a bad check on top of the amount they had been requested to send back to the scam operators.
"I'd say in the past two months I'd say I've gotten around 12 to 15 calls from people on just similar things," Coburn said.
Coburn said that it is unfortunate when people fall for the scam because once the check is cashed, there is little the police can do to help.
"People need to realize that if you do this, if you cash these checks or anything like that, you're liable to the bank for the loan they shelled out," Coburn said. "It's unfortunate but it's the way that it is."
Additionally, Coburn said that the Village of Georgetown has been experiencing a rash of break-ins. According to Coburn, there have been several arrests made already in the break-ins that have put a dent in their frequency, but that there are still people stealing in the village.
Coburn said that the department currently has two suspects in some of the break-ins, and that both have already been processed by the Brown County Courts. However, the system is taking awhile to process them both.
"The primary suspects at least have numerous burglary and breaking and entering charges, and are both out on bond, and we just can't get them to put them away," Coburn said. "I don't know what the problem is. For some reason the system is grinding awfully slow right now."
Corburn said that he is worried that some of the land owners may take matters into their own hands and create a safety issue.
Also, Coburn that there were rumors going around the village that there was a murder this past week at the Brown County General Hospital. Coburn said that the rumors were not true, and that the person had died of natural causes. According to Coburn, an individual went into a bathroom that is not normally used and died due a coronary or other related issue. The body was not found until the following day.
In other business:
• At the recommendation of the Georgetown personnel committee, the Georgetown Village Council voted in favor of raising the pay of all village full and part time employees by 40 cents an hour.
• Fire Chief Joe Rockey announced that the Georgetown Fire Department recently held its fire prevention week, and went around to various schools in the area to educate students on how to prevent fires. Rockey said that he would be heading to Wee Care soon to continue education.
• Village Administrator Kelly Jones said that the village is still on target for the power generation plant project. The plant will be built on the Rumpke lot and will refine methane gas into clean, renewable energy. Jones said that the next step of the project is to work out a price with Rumpke for the cost to purchase and collect the methane gas.
• The next Georgetown Village Council meeting will be held Thursday, Nov. 13. There will be no meeting on Nov. 27 in observance of Thanksgiving.
• The Courthouse Square Open Air Market will be holding a Christmas on the Square celebration on Saturday, Nov. 22.
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