PARIS – Police said Wednesday that they are investigating complaints from workers at a child care center that their payroll checks bounced when they tried to cash them.

Troy Mills, director of Daddy’s Daycare on High Street, said the business would be closing Friday.

Mills said he transferred ownership of the business to Kristopher Murch in January but stayed on as director because the Department of Health and Human Services license to run the facility was in his name.

He had planned to get out of the business when Murch offered to take it over, Mills said. Instead of leaving the 20 families they served without a day care, Mills said he agreed to stay on as the director until Murch could become licensed.

“We used the word sale or sold,” Mills said. “I had owned the business a little over a year when he took over, but no money exchanged.”

Murch was not immediately available for comment and Mills declined to release a cell phone number for him.

Mills confirmed that nine of 12 employee checks worth about $2,800 did not clear the banks where they were cashed. Meanwhile, the owner of the building notified workers he would take the building over this Friday at 6 p.m. because the business was $6,900 behind on the rent. In all, the business has about $10,000 in unpaid bills, including the payroll, Mills said.

Police Chief David Verrier said an investigator from his department was assigned the case and confirmed several payroll checks issued to workers at Daddy’s Daycare were returned for insufficient funds. The detective handling the case was off until Friday, and because the investigation was ongoing there was little information he could share publicly, Verrier said. “Checks were issued and those checks did not have sufficient funds,” Verrier said.

Meanwhile, Mills said he was working with parents to help find them child care options locally. “These parents here are 100 percent sympathetic and apologetic,” Mills said. “They don’t know what to say, but I’ve tried to help each and every one of them.”

Employees were also disappointed and discouraged, Mills said. “Child care is not easy work, it’s very hard for very little money to begin with,” Mills said.