The United States Attorney's Office in Oregon is taking action to claw back millions of dollars for the City of Portland, after a sharp scam operation diverted large sums from the municipality's coffers. In a civil forfeiture case, prosecutors aim to recover over $6.7 million, funds they say are tied to a fraudulent financial scheme, the Justice Department reported.
Details about the scam are chilling in their simplicity; a scammer masquerading as an employee from a city contractor managed to infiltrate the payment system and reroute money to their account. "Civil forfeiture is a powerful and important tool in cases like this, and it allows the government to move quickly to seize the stolen funds, seek legal ownership of them, and then promptly return them to the victims," Katie de Villiers, Chief of the Asset Recovery and Money Laundering Division, told the Justice Department. She stressed the importance of acting fast when falling victim to such crimes.
February brought the City of Portland the sting of betrayal as this impersonation ruse took root. By March, officials sensed something awry and reached out to law enforcement. In a swift response, the USAO and FBI obtained and executed a federal seizure warrant by mid-April, securing the misappropriated funds that the perpetrators had not yet spirited away.
In their endeavor to rectify the situation, the gutsy response from the FBI and the Portland Police Bureau underlines the challenges faced in battling online fraud, particularly when international borders often conceal suspects. Federal law enforcement leverages civil forfeiture to seize crime proceeds and, ideally, reverse the financial wrongs done to victims. Prosecutors Julia E. Jarrett and Katherine A. Rykken are at the helm guiding this forfeiture action through legal waters, the Justice Department explained.
