BAZETTA TWP., Ohio - The Trumbull County auditor has paid Bazetta Township more than $89,000 to replace tax revenue stolen by cybercriminals, ending a yearlong legal dispute over who was responsible for the loss.

Township Fiscal Officer Stacy Marling announced the township received $80,857 in settlement funds and $8,497.95 in interest from Auditor Martha Yoder. The payment complies with an Oct. 27 ruling by the 11th District Court of Appeals, which affirmed a lower court's order requiring the auditor to reissue the funds.

The case centered on a 2024 cyber scam in which hackers compromised the township's fiscal officer’s email account. Posing as township officials, the scammers instructed the auditor’s office to switch the township’s direct deposit information to a Green Dot Bank account, resulting in the diversion of more than $160,000 in tax settlements.

While authorities recovered roughly half the money, $80,857 remained missing. Yoder refused to reissue the remaining balance, arguing her office had fulfilled its legal duty by issuing the warrants and that the township was negligent for failing to secure its email system.

The appellate court rejected that argument. In a unanimous opinion, the three-judge panel ruled the auditor has a clear statutory duty to pay tax funds to the specific local authority, not merely to issue a payment that fails to reach the intended recipient.

"We have found no exception for 'cybercrime' or 'fraud' that excuses the Auditor from fulfilling her duty to issue warrants for these funds—which are clearly the Township's property—to the Township," Judge Matt Lynch wrote in the court's opinion.

The court noted that while both parties blamed the other for the security lapses that allowed the theft, those allegations were irrelevant to the auditor's statutory obligation to ensure the township received its tax revenue.

Marling stated the payment was not voluntary but was made on the last date permitted under the court's ruling. She said the interest payment would help defray attorney fees incurred during the litigation.

"I am relieved that these funds have finally been returned, but it is disappointing that our Township had to pursue legal action to recover funds that rightfully belonged to our residents," Marling said.

The appellate court’s decision affirmed a prior ruling by the Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas, which had granted the township’s request compelling the payment.