💲 Edison was the victim of an email scam, according to federal prosecutors
💲 A municipal employee wired nearly 300k to a scammer
💲 Local officials never revealed the incident and won’t talk about it
Government officials in Edison are not talking after it was revealed they fell for a scam that could have cost local taxpayers nearly $300,000.
Federal prosecutors say a township employee wired $287,287.14 to a bank account in Texas believing they were paying a local vendor.
The money was actually sent to a group of men accused of running a “business email compromise” scam.
Five people in Texas have been indicted on charged they impersonated legitimate companies to intercept payments and divert them to bank accounts they controlled.
Edison officials never disclosed they had been the victim of the scam, and refused to discuss the incident or name the employee or employees who were involved in wiring the money.
Federal investigators say scammers duped Edison out of nearly $300,000. Photo Credit: Google Maps
Photo Credit: Google Maps
They did issue a statement saying the money was reimbursed by the township’s insurance carrier.
The incident only came to light when the indictments were announced in Texas, where the case will be prosecuted.
Investigators did not name the company the alleged scammers were impersonating, only describing it in court papers as “a provider of electrical and mechanical sales and services for customers in New Jersey.”
It is not known if other municipalities were targeted by the same scam.
The suspects were identified as Bolaji Okunnu, Ayodejo Okunnu, Victor Rubio, Jr., Bougar Robert Linares Soto and Philip Ogbeide, Jr.
NJ.com quotes public records as showing they were indicted on June 7.
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