Over one-third of the funds stolen from the City of Saskatoon through a fraud scheme have been recovered.
Someone electronically impersonated the CFO of Allan Construction and asked for a change in banking information, according to city officials.
The city complied, resulting in the company’s next contract payment of $1.04 million to be deposited in the alleged fraudster’s bank account.
The fraud was identified on Aug. 12.
City officials announced Thursday that most of the remaining stolen money has been frozen by a court order made by an Ontario Superior Court judge on Aug. 16.
“Recovery of these funds continues to be a top priority,” the city’s interim CFO, Clae Hack, said in a press release.
“We’re encouraged to have over a third of the stolen money returned this early in the process.”
WATCH (Aug. 19, 2019): Progress made in City of Saskatoon’s efforts to get back $1M stolen through fraud
A formal public report will come to fruition once recovery efforts come to a close, city officials said.
The city continues to work on the recovery of funds with banking institutions, the Saskatoon Police Service and a legal team based in Toronto.