Franklin County officials are warning local businesses to watch out for counterfeit checks.
County Treasurer John Gulley says the manager of a Wal-Mart in the Chicago area contacted the county after a customer cashed two Franklin County payroll checks at the store. He says the suspicious manager sent pictures of the checks, which local officials said were counterfeit because the only accurate information on them was the address of the courthouse. Gulley says everything else was fake. The check stock was different, they were written on a bank not used by the county, and the person who signed the checks does not work for Franklin County.
Gulley says he notified Sheriff Don Jones, and the Sheriff's department has started an investigation into the matter.
While there have been no additional reports of counterfeit Franklin County payroll checks nor any reports of them locally, Jones and Gulley warn local vendors to keep a close watch and contact the Treasurer's office if they see a suspicious looking check.
