The small township of Cranbury, New Jersey, is reeling after cybercriminals made off with $26 million in a real estate deal gone terribly wrong.
The 4,000-person town was victimized in the cybertheft at the end of September, the Wall Street Journal reported, though it wasn’t disclosed to citizens until Friday. Local authorities spent the intervening weeks trying to claw back as much of the stolen funds as possible.
The crime took the form of a real estate transaction. After sharp division revolving around a proposal to seize farmland via eminent domain to meet affordable housing mandates in the town, Cranbury moved to buy separate land with $26 million in bond proceeds.
The only problem? The town received “fraudulent wiring instructions” for the deal, police chief Giuseppe DeChiara said at a township committee meeting this week. One click of a button and tens of millions of dollars were in criminal hands.
After being warned about the fraud, the police called on the FBI. The chief also placed a gag order on town officials, fearing any disclosure could lead to a rapid liquidation of the stolen funds.
Ultimately, Cranbury expects to claw back $17.3 million of the stolen funds, according to the chief. But that leaves nearly $9 million unaccounted for, a hit that could be worsened if the town’s $5 million insurance policy doesn’t absorb part of the loss.
The financial hit is severe for a small town, but so is the reputational hit facing its officials. The fact that the theft was only disclosed to the public on Friday — three days after Election Day — is fueling mistrust and conspiracy theories.
“We’re expected to believe that it’s a coincidence that you suddenly felt comfortable releasing this information at 3 p.m. last Friday afternoon, right after the election?” asked Carol Haring, who lost the election days before facing officials at the town hall.
“I can’t even get on my iCloud account without a two-factor identification,” another resident said. “I don’t know how you would transfer $26 million. That seems a little bit absurd.”
Meanwhile, the consequences are beginning to unfold. The person who served as the town’s chief financial officer, finance director and town administrator is retiring, and is slated to be replaced by two people. The town also brought in an accounting firm.
Read more
Residential
South Florida
$17M in escrow funds gone overnight: Palm Beach law firm sues bank over cyber attack
Cushman hit with class action suit following data breach
Residential
International
Cyberattack crushes London housing market
