Sedgwick County won’t release fraud e-mail request

Sedgwick County won’t publicly release records regarding a request to change payment information that led to the loss of about $566,000.

Vendors that do business with the county can change their billing information by submitting a request with the county. The Eagle requested e-mails from vendors that made those requests between Sept. 18 and Oct. 7, the day an electronic payment of $566,088.90 was sent.

“One record was withheld … as part of an ongoing criminal investigation,” Assistant County Counselor Jon Von Achen wrote in a letter to The Eagle, citing an exemption to the Kansas Open Records Act.

Federal and local authorities are investigating the county’s loss of $566,088.90 to fraudulent activity. The Oct. 7 payment from the county never reached Wichita construction company Cornejo & Sons for a road maintenance project on 53rd Street between Andale and Maize, according to county documents.

Part of a property loss notice accidentally made public by the county in December indicated the e-mail that “appeared to be from (a) vendor” was sent Sept. 18. But Von Achen said that date was incorrect; it was actually sent Sept. 23.

The county released eight other requests for changing payment information, seven of which were completed by vendors on an official form to the county accounts payable department.

It’s unclear whether the fraudsters made their request on an official county form.

“Anything related to the specific nature of how any payment to Cornejo … did not reach them will be evaluated under the standards set out in (the Kansas Open Records Act),” Von Achen wrote in an e-mail. “I cannot provide anything further at this time.”

This story was originally published January 7, 2017 at 4:57 PM with the headline "Sedgwick County won’t release fraud e-mail request."