WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – A Georgia man has been arrested on federal charges for carrying out an e-mail spoofing scheme that cost Sedgwick County $566,000.<
George S. James, 48, Brookhaven, Ga., is charged with one count of wire fraud. An FBI agent’s affidavit alleges that investigators followed an electronic trail that led them to James after Sedgwick County reported the theft of funds were intended to pay Cornejo & Sons, LLC, for work done on a road project.
County officials say they are thrilled a suspect is in custody.
“Great news for the citizens of Sedgwick County, I think this should engender confidence in our law enforcement system,” says Sedgwick County Commission Chair, Dave Unruh. “It was a slower process than many of us would have liked but they stuck to it and now they have apprehended someone.”
Attorneys say tracking cybercrimes and gathering evidence can lead to a conviction. It just takes some good detective work, and the chain of evidence has to be followed.
“Whether it’s a horse thief or cyber con man, two things are always the same, the accused is presumed innocent and the prosecutor must convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt of its accusation,” says KSN Legal Analyst, Dan Monnat. “The law is written so that criminals can be caught doing modern crimes… We’ve seen that from fingerprints to DNA from wiretaps to snapchat and from door-to-door swindles to hacking in the cloud. All you need is proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”
See full video at KSN.com
KSNW TV by Craig Andres