Garden City Park Water/Fire District lost millions to scammers and is now suing bank
The district claims the bank’s negligence allowed cybercriminals to steal millions.
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The Garden City Park Water/Fire District said more than $15 million was stolen from its bank account during the summer of 2024.
The district received several million dollars back, but is still without more than half of the stolen money.
It is suing First National Bank of Long Island, seeking over $11 million plus interest, claiming "conscience-shocking incompetence" on the bank's behalf.
The district says that the theft has not impacted its operating funds or in any way impeded its work and ability to serve the community.
It also says it does not anticipate increases in the district's tax rate.
First National Bank of Long Island released the following statement to News 12:
“Last summer the Bank became aware of suspicious wire transfer activity involving a customer's bank accounts. The wire transfer activity arose as the result of unauthorized access to banking information within the customer's control. This incident was reported by The First of Long Island Corporation, the Bank’s parent, in an 8-K filing filed August 28, 2024.When the Bank became aware of the issue, it immediately began working with law enforcement to recover funds for the customer and undertook an investigation with the assistance of a digital forensic investigations firm. The Bank has successfully recovered for the customer a substantial amount of the customer’s funds, and is continuing to seek additional recoveries. The Bank’s investigation did not yield evidence of unauthorized Bank network activity. Further, the Bank believes that it followed its reasonable procedures regarding online wire transfers. The Bank has now also become aware that the customer has filed suit against the Bank regarding this incident. The Bank intends to continue to work to recover customer funds, while defending itself in the lawsuit, and remains committed to ensuring a full recovery of all customer funds. For more information on this matter, please see the 8-K noted above.”
