What’s at stake:
Suliana Caldwell, a former manager at the Fresno Arts Council who was in charge of the nonprofit’s books, siphoned $1.82 million from the organization over the span of at least three years and nine months through more than 300 unauthorized transfers. She used the funds to gamble at casinos and pay for vacations among other things. Caldwell is expected to enter a guilty plea to one felony count of wire fraud in federal court later this month.
Suliana Caldwell of Fresno is expected to plead guilty to one felony count of wire fraud in connection with a $1.82 million embezzlement case.
As operations manager at the Fresno Arts Council, Caldwell was in charge of the books. The nonprofit arts organization’s bank accounts and finances were under her control. She also ran payroll.
According to charging documents filed in federal court, Caldwell would transfer funds from…
CLICK HERE to read the FULL Ex-Fresno Arts Council manager admits to wire fraud – Fresnoland article.
Cyber fraud uses technology as the primary weapon. It is highly scalable and can be conducted from anywhere in the world.
- Phishing/Smishing/Vishing: Using deceptive emails (phishing), text messages (smishing), or phone calls (vishing) to trick victims into clicking malicious links or revealing sensitive data.
- Business Email Compromise (BEC): A high-value scam where a criminal impersonates a CEO or high-level executive via a “spoofed” email address to trick a staff member into making an urgent, unauthorized wire transfer.