SABINE PARISH, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A Florida man was arrested for allegedly bilking a Louisiana school district for more than a quarter-million dollars, investigators said.
In November 2024, the Sabine Parish School Board was targeted by a fraudster, Wiley M. Howell, 59, in what the Louisiana Bureau of Investigations called a Business Email Compromise, leading to a scheme that defrauded the district of $251,972.00.
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According to LBI, a school board employee was persuaded to, unwittingly, send an ACH payment to an out-of-state bank controlled by the perpetrator. The payor believed that the payment was made to a legitimate vendor for the metal detectors on school campuses.
Wiley, a resident of Florida, was identified by investigators as the recipient of the funds through an extensive process that included tracing the stolen funds through various bank and cryptocurrency accounts, which Howell depleted almost immediately. Agents also discovered that Howell transferred some of the stolen funds to unknown accomplice(s) they believe operate outside of the United States…