NORWICH, Vt. (AP) - The town of Norwich is hoping to recover nearly $250,000 lost in four fraudulent fund transfers that were part of what is being called a “business email compromise scam,” the select board for the Vermont town said in a Thursday statement.

The four payments were sent in August after a town official received an email message that appeared to have come from Town Manager Herb Durfee, but did not.

The loss was initially investigated by the local and state police, but the Vermont office of the United States Attorney is now taking the lead in the criminal investigation. The office is “focused externally on the person or persons who perpetrated this email fraud,” the statement said.

In investigating the loss of the funds the town also discovered that some of the community’s internal financial controls were violated multiple times in recent months when payments weren’t properly documented, but none of the payments were fraudulent or went to recipients who were not entitled to receive the money.

The town said its priority was to recover the funds that were lost and to let the people of Norwich know what happened and what the select board intends to do as a result.

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