LANSING, Mich., Jan. 18 (UPI) -- The treasurer of a Michigan county who lost his own life savings to a Nigerian scam has been charged with embezzling $1.25 million in public funds.
Investigators charge Thomas Katona, treasurer of Alcona County, made wire transfers overseas from county accounts, the Detroit Free Press reported. A preliminary audit has found a shortfall of more than $1.25 million, but investigators are unsure how much of that was sent abroad.
The thinly populated county on Lake Huron in the northern lower peninsula of Michigan has an annual budget of about $4 million.
Katona, a resident of Harrisville, has been charged with nine counts of embezzlement, fraud and other felonies.
Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox said his office is trying to trace the con artists who fooled Katona. E-mail messages claiming to be from Nigerians needing help moving money out of the country have been on the Internet for years.
