The Mount Desert Island Regional School System sent more than $1 million to a fraudulent bank account last month, the district superintendent said on Friday.
The district had intended to pay $1,066,754 to Wright-Ryan Construction for its work on a Bar Harbor school project on Feb. 10, Superintendent Mike Zboray said in a written statement.
But more than a month earlier, an unknown third party submitted a fraudulent request to change bank account information associated with the company, and the school sent its payment to the fraudulent account, the statement said.
The district learned about the fraud on Tuesday and has since disabled the compromised payment system, he said.
“Our current understanding is that the account that received the funds has been frozen, and it appears the funds have also been secured,” Zboray said. “While we cannot yet guarantee that no funds have been lost, we are encouraged by the current information, and we remain hopeful that the full amount will be recovered.”
Zboray’s statement said the district is reinforcing its security measures and providing additional training to accounting staff who deal with processing payments.
Following the school district’s announcement, the town of Bar Harbor said it is taking steps to prevent similar fraud from happening within its offices.
“Although the school department operates under the town’s EIN for financial processing, town accounts remain secure,” Town Clerk Liz Graves said in a written statement. “We are working with our auditors and financial institutions to review all procedures and protocols, strengthening safeguards against any further risks.”
Zboray did not return an email Friday with questions about the timeline moving forward, how the district was alerted to the incident or how the fraudulent actors accessed the system.
Representatives of Wright-Ryan did not return phone messages or an email asking how they were alerted to the fraud or whether they received their due payment.
Bar Harbor Police Chief David Kerns said the department cannot comment on an ongoing investigation. The FBI is overseeing the case.
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