An attempted electronic theft from the town of Bar Harbor has been foiled, and the $1 million the town nearly lost is being deposited back into the town’s accounts.
Sarah Gilbert, the town’s finance director, told town councilors Tuesday night that town staff worked with the FBI to stop the payment, which was intended to go to a school contractor. Somehow, a different identifying number had been substituted for the vendor’s number in the transaction, Gilbert said. The amount of money sent was $1,066,000, she said.
All the funds have been recovered and are expected to be returned to the town’s accounts by Wednesday morning, Gilbert told the council.
Town staff will work with the town’s auditors and financial institutions to review all procedures and protocols, strengthening safeguards against any further risks, Gilbert said.
In a letter to the community that has been posted online by Bar Harbor Story, the local school superintendent said the fraud attempt sought to divert payments connected to ongoing construction of the town’s new $58 million K-8 school. The superintendent, Mike Zboray, said the attempted electronic theft dates to January, when his office received and processed a request to change bank account information associated with payments for that project.
After a contractor on the project requested the payment, the transfer was made before the school district realized it had been sent to the wrong account. Town officials quickly notified law enforcement and were able to freeze the account before the money could be withdrawn, according to Zboray.
