MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Over $460,000 has been recovered by Milwaukee Police linked to a fraud scheme targeting City government operations.
According to Milwaukee City Comptroller Bill Christianson, the scheme involved criminals impersonating Scherrer Construction based in Burlington, Wisconsin, and redirecting payment to a fraudulent account earlier this year. In total, the suspects stole $460,866 before Christianson tells WTMJ a representative from Scherrer Construction called to tell the City they hadn’t been paid for their services despite records indicating otherwise.
“They had names of individuals at Scherrer Construction that were involved in finance, they had an email address that was almost identical to Scherrer Construction,” says Chrisitanson.
The money has since been returned to the City, though Milwaukee Police are still searching for unknown suspects who the department believes are based overseas.
Christianson said in a statement a similar fraud scheme occurred in late 2024, and is still being investigated. The City is currently exploring additional security connected to financial procedures.
“We are confident that the measures we are putting in place will significantly strengthen our defenses against fraud,” said Chrisitanson.
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