DETROIT – An elaborate wire transfer fraud scheme has left the Detroit Public Library out hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The fraud happened in 2021.
According to city officials, someone using the email address of a DPL employee to send fraudulent wire instructions to the city to transfer funds to an account that the DPL did not control.
The transfers totaled $685,221.64. More than $277,000 has been recovered, but another $407,426.55 is gone.
The money came from an account with funds from taxpayer millage on city property tax bills. Those funds are used by the library, which manages its own finances, to make payroll and bills.
The library manages its own finances, but the city serves as a fiscal agent for the library. The wire transfer requests reportedly looked just like legitimate transfer requests.
“Law enforcement has been involved but has not shared details of their activities with us,” said a city spokesperson. “The Library and the city both are victims in this matter. The fraud was shared publicly in 2021 during an annual audit of DPL finances.”