City of Miami Beach Recovers Nearly $3 5 Million of Stolen Funds
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City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS, Tel: 305.673.7575 PRESS RELEASE
Tonya Daniels, E-mail: tonyadaniels@miamibeachfl.gov
Melissa Berthier, E-mail: melissaberthier@miamibeachfl.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 31, 2017
City of Miami Beach Recovers Nearly $3.5 Million of Stolen Funds
— Resulting In 95 Percent of Funds Re-Claimed and Returned to the City’s
Coffers —
Miami Beach, FL – Tax dollars become city funds that create new parks, improve
streets and drainage systems, expand municipal services and enhance the overall
lifestyle for residents. That’s why, when $3,686,712 was stolen from the City of Miami
Beach in July 2016, city staff worked quickly and proactively to recover the money.
Today, the city’s diligence and dedication to the cause has resulted in recovering a total
of $3,499,344 without protracted and expensive litigation. Before today the City had
recovered a total of $2,063,086. At today’s meeting, the City Commission accepted a
proposed settlement with STR Marketplace which includes a lump sum payment of
$900,000 and a settlement agreement with SunTrust Bank totaling $536,258 plus
additional interest to be earned each month through December 31, 2019.
“My commitment to our residents was to ensure every dollar was recovered and today’s
report by the City Manager confirmed we’re nearly there,” shared Mayor Philip Levine
proudly. “We must always protect our residents’ tax dollars and this served as an
important reminder to the city to always safeguard all city accounts.”
An individual in New York was criminally charged with bank fraud and aggregated
identity theft in May after stealing money from the city’s General Depository Account – a
clear violation of federal law. The suspect stole by fraudulently authorizing debits from
the city’s account to his personal finances, thereafter using city funds to purchase
personal seat licenses for professional sporting events – planning to re-sell seat tickets
through online services such as Craigslist and StubHub. Additionally, there has been no
evidence that a city employee was involved in any way related to the criminal acts.
With the community’s best interest in mind, city staff continue to work towards recovering
the remaining $187,368, which is anticipated to be recovered by the end of the first
quarter in 2018.
Just as important as recapturing the stolen funds in their entirety, is to ensure a theft
never happens again. At today’s meeting, the city’s internal auditor validated the
We are committed to providing excellent public service and safety to all who live, work and play in our vibrant, tropical, historic community.
implementation of 60 recommendations from the BDO report issued in May 2017 for
strengthening the city’s internal controls. Measures taken include several steps, such as
implementing ACH Fraud Controls; setting up a unique account identifier issued by
financial institutions that allows organizations to receive electronic payments without
divulging confidential banking information; instituting a daily review and reconciliation of
all non-check disbursements, and several other security measures. These efforts have
ensured that all municipal accounts are secure against future fraud and theft.
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