KNOXVILLE, TN (Story courtesy of WVLT) – Fraudsters scammed the Knoxville Public Building Authority out of more than $700,000 last month, according to a police report obtained by WVLT News.
It happened on Oct. 3. The report said an officer spoke with a PBA representative, who said they had gotten an email from what they thought was a regular vendor saying they had changed their bank information, and the PBA needed to update the information.
The report said that person changed the information and the PBA made a $758,075.46 payment to the bogus account.
A public building authority is a nonprofit public corporation that manages government buildings, like Knoxville’s City-County Building.
The FBI is investigating the fraud, the report said. WVLT News reached out to the PBA for a statement, and the authority pointed us towards their legal representative, Morris Kizer at Gentry, Tipton & McLemore, P.C.
Kizer said the incident is under investigation, so he is unable to comment.
