Campaign account info posted online could be source of theft

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Rhode Island elections officials say bank account information that it posted online could be the way thieves were able to steal $15,000 from Cranston Mayor Allan Fung’s campaign account.

WJAR-TV reports the Board of Elections in a statement Monday said it posted the account information without redacting the routing and account numbers.

Chairwoman Diane Mederos said state police concluded the erroneously posted information was “likely” the source of the theft.

The Fung campaign noticed the missing money last month and contacted police. Investigators discovered that the theft occurred in New York.

Barbara Ann Fenton, the Republican mayor’s wife and campaign treasurer, says a phony paper check was made out to an out-of-state company and deposited at an out-of-state credit union.

Fenton on Monday called the board’s error “an honest mistake.”