MOCO Man Stole $375K From CT Town In Phishing Scheme: Officials

GAITHERSBURG, MD — A Maryland man is facing charges after authorities said he stole around $375,000 from a Connecticut town by hacking a school official's email account and initiating several fraudulent money transfers.

Charles Ukasanya, 48, of Gaithersburg is charged with one count of first-degree larceny, a Class B felony, according to Annmarie Drugonis, first selectwoman in Seymour, Connecticut.

Ukasanya was arrested in Gaithersburg and is awaiting extradition to Connecticut, officials said.

Drugonis told WFSB in Connecticut that a Seymour Public School District employee’s credentials were used by "a bad actor" to gain access to the victim’s email box.

"They used this access to send fraudulent money transfer requests to the town finance department under the auspices of requests of the Board of Education for the Teacher Retirement Board,” Drugonis told WFSB. “They did this by using existing legitimate request forms and simply changing the account and routing numbers on the form.”

Officials tried reaching out to the employee, but any emails concerning the transfer were set up to bypass the victim's inbox.

Seymour police are still investigating the theft.