Los Angeles has been passing bad checks all over town.
A bank processing error caused the city to bounce $6 million worth of checks, The Daily News reported.
City Controller Wendy Greuel sent letters to 926 vendors, apologizing for the mistake while noting Wachovia Bank was to blame.
"The city has been informed by its bank -- Wachovia Bank -- that checks processed by the bank for the city of Los Angeles on the night of July 23, 2009, and sent to you on July 24, 2009, were incorrectly processed and led to the checks being returned," she wrote.
"These checks were returned by your bank to you as a result of Wachovia's processing error," Greuel wrote.
Greuel's spokesman Ben Golombek told the Daily News, "Wachovia was the check issuer for the city and there was a problem when they were taken over by Wells Fargo and these checks went out."
Golombek urged vendors to redeposit the checks, which are now cleared for payment. "That would be quicker than issuing new checks," he said.
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Wachovia also sent letters of apology to those who received the bad checks.
Joni Topper, a regional vice president at the bank, wrote "Wachovia values our relationship with the city of Los Angeles and recognizes the importance of processing transactions in an accurate and efficient manner."
