A 22-year-old Texas man has been accused of allegedly stealing more than $850,000 from the Santa Rosa County Clerk of Court & Comptroller’s Office last year.
On Sunday, authorities detained Mohamed Bakayoko for grand theft, a first-degree felony. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in state prison.
WEAR News reported last April on the theft of $852,983.
“The investigation, led by the Milton Police Department’s Detective Division, uncovered that Mr. Bakayoko was the recipient of funds fraudulently obtained through a business email compromise (BEC) scam,” Milton Police said Thursday in a release. “In this case, cybercriminals impersonated a legitimate vendor using a compromised email account, misleading Clerk of Court personnel into updating the vendor’s banking details. As a result, over $850,000 was mistakenly transferred into a fraudulent account. Immediately following the transfer, the funds were rapidly dispersed across multiple financial institutions and accessed through substantial cash withdrawals.”
Authorities froze the accounts after identifying the fraudulent conduct. This led to the recovery and restitution of about $650,000 to the Clerk of Court’s Office.
“Further digital forensics traced the origin and flow of the stolen funds directly to Bakayoko, a resident of Texas,” the release states. “Milton Police Department Detective Samuel Ennis secured an arrest warrant, and through coordinated efforts with the FBI, Mr. Bakayoko was apprehended without incident.”
Milton Police Chief Jennifer Frank said Bakayoko might pay the remaining money through restitution, which could be included in his sentence.
Jason English, the current Santa Rosa County Clerk of Court, was not present when the theft occurred. However, he claims that both the previous and current administrations have made steps to ensure that this does not happen again. The solution includes implementing extra internal checks and balances, as well as partnering with a third-party provider called “Payment Works.”
“They go through and vet the county’s vendors that keep up with their information, financial information, banking information etc. and the vendors would have to register with Public Works,” English said.
According to Chief Frank, it is unknown at this time whether Bakayoko worked alone. She claims that further investigation will clarify whether Bakayoko worked alone.
She encourages community members, suppliers, and governments to be attentive to avoid scams like this.
Bakayoko’s next court date is June 19.