TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - An employee of Lucas County, which includes the Ohio city of Toledo, mistakenly sent more than $600,000 to a scammer posing as a construction company with which the county has contracts.
The county’s auditor’s office discovered that the payments had been sent to a scammer on Wednesday and reported the theft to law enforcement and financial institutions, the Toledo Blade reported.
Auditor Anita Lopez called the theft of public funds “sickening,” and told the newspaper that no staff are currently on leave or being investigated.
“We are doing everything we can right now to recover the dollars that have been lost,” she said, adding that she takes responsibility for the employee error.
An initial review shows that the money was sent to the scammer posing as a construction company over two months. The county’s contracts are publicly available, Lopez told the newspaper.
The Lucas County Sheriff’s Office told the newspaper they were investigating the scam.
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