Detroit Public Library admits losing $685K to wire fraud — two years after the fact

The Detroit Public Library system lost $685,000 in an email and wire fraud scam, and has only recovered about 40% of it, The Detroit News reports.

The alleged scam took place over two months, during December 2020 and January 2021, but it was only made public by library officials two years later.

As The News reports:

The alleged wire fraud appeared to involve at least one person who used a Detroit Public Library email address requesting to transfer money from the library's bank accounts, said Stephanie Davis, a spokeswoman for Detroit Chief Financial Officer Jay Rising.

Through a series of emails, bank officials were asked to transfer money, in some cases more than six figures, from public library accounts to various private bank accounts, according to the city documents obtained by The News.

The thefts took place in December 2020 and January 2021, and the thefts came in chunks, ranking from $92,000 to $259,000. About $278,000, or a little over 40%, has been recovered.

But the library is not insured for theft, The News reports.