Mahoning sheriff's office probing 9 forged checks linked to county, state accounts

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the cashing of nine forged checks bearing a Mahoning County account number at stores in the Springfield and Dayton areas, three of them appearing to be from an account controlled by the state’s auditor's office.

All nine checks had an account and routing number belonging to the Mahoning County Auditor’s office, said Detective Anthony Murphy of the county sheriff’s office, who is investigating the case.

“They did their best effort to make a check look like a government check,” said Maj. William Cappabianca of the Mahoning County Sheriff’s office. “They’re fake,” he said of the checks.

Some of the checks had the state auditor’s logo and purported signature of state Auditor Dave Yost; some had the Mahoning County Auditor’s logo and purported signature of county Auditor Ralph Meacham; and others had a fake janitorial service logo and an illegible purported authorizing signature from the janitorial service, Cappabianca said.

The stores that cashed the checks will be out the money, Murphy said.

No suspects are charged or in custody, but Murphy said he has one suspect in mind.

County Treasurer Dan Yemma alerted the sheriff’s office to the fraudulent checks a month ago, Murphy said.

Read more about the matter in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.