Dalton, Ga.-based Hamilton Health Care System was allegedly scammed out of more than $1.2 million by someone purporting to work for a construction company, according to the Times Free Press.
In a Nov. 20 email to hospital management, someone claiming to be the CFO of a construction company that has been working with HHCS requested the hospital electronically wire payments instead of paying by check, according to an incident report by Dalton police.
After the person claiming be the construction company executive provided a voided check from Harris Bank, Steven Bridenstine, director of finance and treasury services at HHCS, wired the construction company two payments totaling more than $1.2 million, according to the report.
Mr. Bridenstine called the construction company a week after sending the second payment. Company officials said they did not request wired payments, and they never received the funds from HHCS. Mr. Bridenstine immediately reported the alleged wire fraud to local police.
"This incident is being actively investigated," Jeff Myers, president and CEO of Hamilton Health Care System, said in an email to WRCB. "This is a matter we take with the utmost seriousness. Hamilton is aggressively pursuing all available legal recourse and is fully cooperating with the FBI and local law enforcement."
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