PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — After the City of Portland was targeted by a $6.7 million fraud scheme earlier this year, the United States Attorney’s Office has announced it is taking action to return the lost funds.
According to the City of Portland, they originally became aware of the scam back in February, when someone posing as a contracted employee with the city gained access to a payment system, then rerouted the contractor’s bank information to the scam account.
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The USAO said the city then notified law enforcement in March when the contractor’s intended payment – which was set aside for use in the Bull Run Filtration Project – instead went to an unauthorized bank account.
Initially, the city filed a lawsuit against a New York law firm whose account held the deposited funds, Portland officials said…