Over $2 Million in Stolen Funds Recovered by U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI

BURLINGTON - The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced today that it had successfully obtained a judgment in forfeiture for $2,270,202.39 in funds stolen from the Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD) in a cyber-enabled fraud scheme. United States District Judge William K. Sessions III signed the order of forfeiture and judgment on July 2, 2026, releasing the funds to the government. According to the settlement agreement in the case, the funds will now be returned to CSWD by the United States Marshals Service.

As explained in documents from the case, in late January 2026, CSWD received an email that appeared to redirect payments owed to a construction company with whom they were engaged in an ongoing project. Pursuant to the email's directions, CSWD sent two payments, totaling over $3 million, to an account at Citibank. In fact, the account at Citibank did not belong to the construction company but was instead receiving the funds as part of an ongoing fraud scheme. With the assistance of the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's Office seized the funds from the bank pursuant to a civil seizure warrant and obtained forfeiture of the funds to the government to allow the return to CSWD.

First Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan A. Ophardt commended the prompt investigatory efforts of the FBI in identifying and recovering the stolen funds and thanked the United States Marshals Service for their assistance executing the forfeiture. He added: "Recoveries of stolen funds from sophisticated cyber actors are only possible when impacted entities quickly alert law enforcement about their losses. In this case, CSWD swiftly notified law enforcement and coordinated with the FBI. Because of CSWD's actions in the wake of the phishing scam, we were able to seize and return over $2 million dollars to CSWD, a benefit to all residents of Chittenden County."

FBI Special Agent in Charge Craig L. Tremaroli of the Albany Field Office also praised CSWD's actions and urged rapid reporting saying, "this type of fraud is one of the most pervasive threats facing our communities today, but the FBI is here to help. Thanks to the quick reporting from Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD), our team was able to immediately get to work to recover the transactions and return a substantial portion of the stolen funds. I thank CSWD and the District of Vermont for their swift and strong coordination, and I implore the public to immediately report this type of fraud to law enforcement so we can work together to achieve a similar outcome."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia A. P. Cowles handled this civil forfeiture matter for the government.