'A tremendous relief.' Check washing victim recoups her money
A Bay Shore woman who turned to News 12 for help after washed checks cost her thousands sat down for an exclusive update.
Jean Gioglio-Goehring, of Bay Shore, reached out to News 12 for help after she said three of her checks were washed and the money stolen. The checks were worth more than $11,000. After News 12 reached out to her bank, Capital One, Gioglio-Goehring said she received a transfer in the amount that had been stolen from her.
“I immediately called you and said thank you, thank you, thank you,” Jean Gioglio-Goehring told News 12 on Wednesday. After News 12 reported last week that Gioglio-Goehring had been victim of a thief who washed three of her checks, leaving her out thousands of dollars, she said she checked her bank account Tuesday and saw that her bank, Capital One, had put the amount of money that had been stolen from her directly into her account. She told News 12 that it was a “tremendous relief.” She’s a widow on a fixed income and said she will now be able to sleep.
Gioglio-Goehring said she mailed the checks the night of May 18 from the North Babylon Post Office. She soon found out the checks never made it to the intended recipients. She spent the better part of her summer desperately trying to recoup her money, reaching out to various authorities and her bank.
While Gioglio-Goehring is thrilled that she got her money back, she said she was hoping to get back a late penalty she was made to pay after her tax check never made it to the Town of Islip on time. It was one of the three checks that were washed. Town of Islip Receiver of Taxes Andy Wittman told News 12 that both state and county law don’t give “any waiver of a penalty due to this crime or any other circumstance which may occur in a taxpayer’s life that would cause them to be late when making their property tax payment.”
News 12 subsequently reached out to the county. Suffolk County Comptroller John Kennedy said that based on the information received today, they’ll confirm with law enforcement that Gioglio-Goehring was the victim of a crime - and then she’ll be refunded for the late fee.
