Clayton Police are trying to recover $213,013 scammed from the Town of Clayton. On November 23, 2022, Clayton Police was notified of a email compromised fraud in which the Town of Clayton was the victim. An unknown suspect spoofed an email belonging to a construction company, which is currently doing contract work for the Town.
The unknown suspect posed as the chief financial officer of the company and requested a change of electronic payment authorization in the amount of $213,013 which was electronically transferred through an Automatic Clearing House (ACH) transaction.
Police immediately initiated an investigation into the fraud. Through investigative means, Clayton Detectives discovered the money was transferred to a bank account owned by a fictitious paving company in Ohio. Once the bank received the funds, the money was quickly redistributed to other fraudulent business accounts.
Clayton Police investigators traveled to Ohio and executed a search warrant at a residence in Reynoldsburg, Ohio with the assistance of the Reynoldsburg Police Department. Erin Nicole Martin, 32, was taken into custody and charged with Obtaining Property by False Pretenses. Clayton Police seized several items of evidence from the residence and determined that Martin is part of an organized crime group targeting construction companies to facilitate their fraud schemes.
Martin remains in custody at the Franklin County Detention Center in Columbus, Ohio…
