Whole town gets scammed!!!

[Spike]

Some people have no common sense.
Nigerian scam takes town's money

[Arthu®]

  Even a 16 year old should have the common sense to think that those scams are too good to be true... I just don't understand how he could have fallen for it.

Arthur

[Old Moparz]

Two things come to mind after reading that story. First, the guy admitted guilt to two felony charges that were later dismissed. Why dismiss it if he pleaded guilty? Where there's smoke, there's fire, so I can't help but to think that this time around he is guilty of embezzling municiple funds. It sucks for the small town to lose a large amount of money like that, but they should have some kind of liability insurance that will cover it. Hopefully they have an attorney on the payroll that can pursue it. (Even if he is the town barber too.)

As for his knowledge of Nigerian scams, he's been involved with finances professionally & probably knows enough about international banking & used the Nigerian type scam as a way to get the funds for himself. I find it hard to believe he wouldn't know about it even after his own bank warned him of the transfer. The money is probably hidden in one of his accounts, or perhaps a partner elsewhere has it. Maybe the town made a mistake re-electing him, but don't forget Washington D.C. re-elected a crackhead for mayor. 

[Arthu®]

As for his knowledge of Nigerian scams, he's been involved with finances professionally & probably knows enough about international banking & used the Nigerian type scam as a way to get the funds for himself. I find it hard to believe he wouldn't know about it even after his own bank warned him of the transfer. The money is probably hidden in one of his accounts, or perhaps a partner elsewhere has it. Maybe the town made a mistake re-electing him, but don't forget Washington D.C. re-elected a crackhead for mayor. 

You are too cynical man, have some faith in humanity... But I can see your point...

Arthur

[6pkrunner]

You are too cynical man, have some faith in humanity... But I can see your point...

Arthur

-its the faith and trust in your fellow man that allow these scams to flourish. Most people get cynical from repeated experience - either personal or seeing it everyday. Not to be a wet blanket on the world, but when something sounds too good to be true - well it usually is.

[Charger_Fan]

Sounds like this Katona person is a real mental midget. <---(glass 1/2 empty opinion)

At least the Nigerian scam probably won't work very well in that town for quite some time. <---(glass 1/2 full view)

[4cruzin]

Sad story.   

[Old Moparz]

You are too cynical man, have some faith in humanity... But I can see your point...

Arthur

Yeah, I'll admit cynicism, but it's only because of realism. You may not believe it, but I consider myself to be optimistic most of the time, & I do have faith in people. (In general that is.) I also consider myself a skeptic, so when I see that someone with a criminal history is once again involved in a crime, well...... 

[2Gunz]

Ya.... Im with him.... he stashed the money.

I can understand people getting scammed.

But the accountant/ investment guy?  Come the F^#K on.

I got one of these things back before it hit the news..... and laughed at it.

And I dont do any sort of money for a living.

[hemigeno]

No insurance policy is going to cover voluntarily sending money like that (even if it's a scam).  It's a clear-cut exclusion in every single policy.  However, they MIGHT be able to get some of the money back if they could prove that there was embezzlement, but only if they carry an Employee Dishonesty policy with high enough limits.  Judging from how much money they think might be missing, I doubt they carry anywhere close to enough insurance.

Chances are, the guy was embezzling - perhaps with the intention of making a killing through investments with County funds (with plans to put the County's money back and he would keep his "extra" earnings for himself), or maybe a gambling problem (again, maybe with good intentions of reimbursing the County from his expected winnings).  When things went south, he was probably fearful that he would be caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  That's probably what made him go for something stupid like the Nigerian scheme.

Either way, it's a shame what happened, and it's a shame that no one caught it before then.  My guess is that there'll be a new slate of County Commissioners come next election time.