Pulaski County officials say all funds diverted in a suspected fraudulent vendor-payment scheme involving detention-center medical services have been recovered.

The Pulaski County Sheriff's Office announced the recovery in an October 31 update, following the revelation that approximately $1.9 million in payments intended for Turn Key Health Clinics LLC had been redirected.

How the scheme was discovered: According to the county's earlier account, a June email falsely appeared to request a change to the medical contractor's payment banking information.

Payments were made using the altered instructions over several months. The contractor alerted officials on October 23 that it had not received payments and had not requested the banking change.

County officials previously reported that the most recent payment, about $126,345, had been recovered. The later Sheriff's Office announcement stated that the remainder of the diverted funds had also been recovered.

What remains unresolved: The announcement of recovered funds does not mean investigators have identified a suspect or closed the case. The earlier county release said the FBI had been notified.

The incident has renewed questions about how payment-change requests are authenticated and verified before public funds are transferred.

Why it matters: The reported recovery is a substantial update to a story covered in the previous 501 Daily edition. Residents should distinguish the financial recovery from the still-developing investigation.