DETROIT – The Detroit Public Library system was the victim of a wire fraud scam that involved the theft of more than $685,000.
Investigators were able to recover $277,000, but the investigation has been closed with more than $400,000 still missing. There are still a lot of questions that remain unanswered.
How was $685k stolen from Detroit Public Library?
Officials said the scam went on for about a year and involved a spoofed email address and wire transfers.
Investigators determined that nobody in the city or the library did anything criminal. They were simply victims of an online scam.
Payments were made in 2020 and 2021 from the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. The payments were requests to wire money from an account that appeared to come from an official Detroit Public Library email, but it was a scam.
When it was all said and done, at least $685,000, was sent to scammers who are based somewhere in Malaysia. Investigators were able to recover $277,000 but that left more than $400,000 unaccounted for.
Detroit Inspector General Ellen Ha said the investigation was taken out of her hands.
The Office of the Chief Financial Officer issued a statement that reads, in part, “law enforcement has been involved but has not shared details of their activities with us. The library and the city both are victims in this matter.”
Local 4 reached out to the Detroit Public Library but did not receive a response back.
Who is responsible for replacing the missing money?
The money was meant for the library, but clearly they didn’t get it.
The Detroit Public Library said it wants the city to pay the money back. The city is fighting, saying they both were victims in this case.
In the meantime, the FBI said it couldn’t confirm or deny the existence of any ongoing investigation.
Previous report: Here’s how more than $400K was stolen from the Detroit Public Library