Canton Couple Charged With Bank Fraud
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 9:06 PM
By Cristin Severance
The money was supposed to go to Reelflyrod.com. Todd Mikesell is the owner of the Website and said those deposits are his, ONN's Cristin Severance reported.
"I am a sole support of a family of six, and I feel like this literally took food out of my kid's mouths," said Mikesell.
Mikesell said he gave American Express an account number that was off by one digit. He said the numbers actually matched an account held by a North Canton couple in a Doylestown, Ohio bank.
"I made a simple mistake and provided them the number," Mikesell said.
The mistake went unnoticed, and for nine months his money was deposited into someone else's account, Severance reported.
"We had deposits as high as $6,000. We had several for $4,000, and several for $3,000," said Mikesell.
Sensing something was off he did an audit.
"I figured out that the American Express deposits were not there and that they were never there. I started having a feeling a panic," said Mikesell.
Soon, he said Amercian Express, the bank and the police were notified.
Mikesell said in all, Walter and Brenda Rockhold spent $23,000. They have since paid back $12,000, Severance reported.
ONN tried to talk to the Rockhold's on Tuesday but no one came to the door.
"It was not enough money to put us out of business, but it hurt a lot," said Mikesell.
Mikesell said he is to partly blame for giving the wrong number. However, he believes American Express also made a mistake by never verifying the account.
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