Kettle Falls Hit with Fraud, All Employees Cleared of Wrongdoing

Nearly $21,000 across eight fraudulent transactions hit the city of Kettle Falls within the past year, but most of the money was recovered, according to city officials. Seven of those transactions took place in August and September of 2025, with the eighth transaction taking place in the March of this year, Kettle Falls Mayor Jesse Garrett said in a written statement to the Statesman-Examiner.

“In August 2025, fraudulent activity was identified on the city’s checking account,” stated Garrett. “This activity was discovered during our normal reconciliation process performed by staff each morning.” The situation was immediately reported to the bank, Garrett said. “Over the course of a two-week period, several checks and ACH (Automated Clearing House) transactions were identified again through our daily reconciliation process.

Our banking institution investigated the fraudulent claims, a police investigation was initiated, and we were fortunate enough to be starting our state audit process,” stated Garrett. While the city received most of its money back, the fraud incidents resulted in a net loss of nearly $3,300. Garrett said investigations from the city’s bank, the Kettle Falls Police Department, and the Washington State Auditor’s office cleared all employees of any wrongdoing.

“Due to the nature of the crimes, which may have originated out of state or outside of the country, no one has been identified to be held accountable,” he stated. Because of the fraud, the city of Kettle Falls now utilizes a Positive Pay service that requires pre-approval before any transaction through the city’s bank is authorized, Garrett added.

He said, “We continue with our daily reconciliation routines and maintain a high-awareness for detecting possible fraudulent activity