Watch CBS News

$3.6M Discovered Missing From City Of Miami Beach

Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter

MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- The City of Miami Beach is missing several million dollars.

It was a big day on Thursday as the city extended the trolley service to relieve the challenging traffic. But more on the minds of the city manager and commissioners is the $3.6 million that was somehow electronically transferred out of the city's account at Sun Trust Bank.

"We do not think it is any kind of inside criminal activity but the investigation is just getting underway," said City Manager Jimmy Morales, who met earlier with the FBI.

Morales noticed the fraudulent outflow of funds and promised the commission that he is "personally conducting a full investigation into where our internal controls may have failed and will take further appropriated measures when, and if, necessary."

Two city financial department employees resigned.

"If this is simply a product of neglect, I think we need to dig deeper and find out how deep that neglect goes," said Commissioner Michael Grieco.

We are told all a bank hacker would need is an account number and a routing number, and funds could be directed almost anywhere.

So will Miami Beach recover their money?

SunTrust Bank declined to comment and referred CBS4's Hank Tester to speak with city officials.

"We are going to make sure we get all that money back and those banks will be held responsible," said Miami Beach Mayor Phillip Levine.

Miami Beach Police and the FBI are investigating.

"We are working with SunTrust Bank because these were all part of electronic transfers and under the statutes, they have a right to file claims against the banks that received these funds to get the money back," said Morales.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.