The Brief Former Gainesville city official Carl Timothy Tench faces 99 felony charges after allegedly stealing $1.5 million from the Department of Water Resources. Officials say Tench carried out an elaborate scheme involving rigged bids, forged documents, and inflated purchase orders for HVAC units over several years. Gainesville leaders uncovered the alleged fraud during a spring audit, prompting a broader investigation across all city departments.



A former municipal maintenance superintendent faces nearly 100 felony charges after an internal city audit exposed a multi-year embezzlement scheme totaling approximately $1.5 million.

What we know:

Hall County Sheriff's Office deputies took Carl Timothy  Tim  Tench, 66, of Gainesville, into custody Friday on warrants issued by the Gainesville Police Department.

Police charged Tench with 33 felony counts of bid-rigging, 33 felony counts of forgery in the first degree, and 33 felony counts of filing false documents, bringing the total to 99 felony charges.

Tench gained release on bond from the Hall County Jail on Saturday.

Tench worked for the city for 14 years, starting as a maintenance operator in April 2012. He served as maintenance operator supervisor starting in November 2014 until a promotion in November 2019 to maintenance superintendent, a position he held until his firing on June 17.

The backstory:

City Manager Bryan Lackey stated that an internal audit this spring uncovered irregularities connected to HVAC purchases made through the Gainesville Department of Water Resources.

The audit revealed a pattern of bid-rigging and fraud within the municipal purchasing system, leading officials to terminate Tench and coordinate with police.

Carl Timothy  Tim  Tench booking photo (Credit: Hall County Sheriff's Office)

Investigators said Tench stole hundreds of thousands of dollars incrementally over several years by rigging equipment bids.

After securing low bids using a different identity and obtaining checks through legitimate but inflated purchase orders in city software, Tench used a fraction of the funds for the HVAC units an

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