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Police: Lake City Woman Cashes Paycheck Twice, Pays Bills With It

An employee of Happy House Daycare in Lake City was jailed Friday after police believe she cashed a paycheck twice.

Brandiesha Williams, 23, of Lake City, received her check on Aug. 26, deposited it online, and later went to a check-cashing business to cash the same check, according to a news release from the Lake County Police Department.

The duplication was detected when the check was processed by her bank the following day, according to the release. Williams said she placed the money on a card but had lost it, and she agreed to pay back the funds.

But Williams never returned the funds or future phone calls, and Lake City police received a complaint of check fraud on Friday, the release says.

Williams told police she received the funds twice and that she received an error when she processed the check online first, so she decided to cash it in person, the release says.

But Williams used the extra money to pay off bills, saying that she thought she could pay it back later, the release says. After a month, however, she had not made any effort to do so.

Though Williams said the funds were duplicated because of an error from her bank, it is considered theft in Florida to not alert banks of such an error and to spend funds in question, the release says.

Williams was charged with grand theft and passing a worthless check. She has since bonded out of the Columbia County Jail, Lake City police told WUFT News on Monday.

Yvonne Bertovich is a junior studying journalism at the University of Florida. She is currently the office manager for the Florida Scholastic Press Association, an editorial intern for Atlantic Publishing, and a WUFT News digital reporter/editor.