I think Warren County taxpayers should be outraged. Whether or not there were safeguards in place, Warren County officials were scammed and they were at fault.
Norton's playing with house money, as gamblers like to say. She's too busy making sure her fellow Repuklicans/CONServatives win every office in the county, hosting fundraisers, donating to political BFFs and misusing ARPA money to do a high-level job that shouldn't be what amounts to a political patronage post. I think I'll have the guy who changes the oil in my car do my income taxes this year. 😉
I would think some decent old school Republicans still out there would realize they’re playing for the wrong team, but apparently not. Or if they do they just quit and walk away, instead of helping fix the mess they made.
A note to LaFarr: Norton should be allowed to talk, and trying to "not scare" voters is not helping anyone. Voters SHOULD be aware and informed about what level of simple or sophisticated scams municipal voters may be subject to. Is this even LaFarr's jurisdiction of responsibility? Who prosecutes this crime? If it's off to the state comptroller than LaFarr needs to focus on how to educate county employees to online scam protections.
Nonsense. If the sheriff feels the treasurer is obstructing his investigation, presumably to cover her own rear end, he OUGHT to scold her for that. Some would argue the response should be more than mere scolding: criminal obstruction of justice charges. The treasurer has very little defense for her office allowing such an astonishingly simple and low-tech scam to work, NOT ONCE BUT TWICE.
Is it his investigation? He scolded her for "scaring people." Who is she scaring, exactly? I think she is fully cooperating with the NY state office of the comptroller. Is he?
THIS WAS NOT AN ONLINE SCAM!! This was some criminal picking up a low-tech telephone, calling the county, asking for their bank info and getting it unquestioningly. NOT ONCE, BUT TWICE!
This is a error you might expect a technophobic senior citizen to make, not a financial professional. And certainly not twice!
County treasurer should not be an elected position.
Even after this fiasco Norton could be re-elected in her next election if the Republican committee/a primary election places her name on the ballot - similar to the situation we saw nationally with Trump.
Solid reporting on this institutional failure at the county level. The sheriff's point about basic verification protocols really stands out becaus simply calling a known vendor before wiring millions should be standard practice, not an afterthought. I've seen similar lapses in corporate procurement where people skip verification steps due to time pressure. The lack of procedural guardrails before rolling out ACH payments is pretty much a textbook example of tech adoption without proper risk assesment.
I'm told by people close to the fiasco that Norton, the treasurer, requested county employees to create and install the software program at issue. So, shouldn't she be responsible for learning the system and ensuring all the guardrails are followed on EVERY transaction? That fact -- alone -- requires her to resign and agree never to seek political office in Warren County again. But that's just my opinion because who am I to deny her a six-figure salary, benefits, taxpayer-funded pension and a political patronage/no-show position.
There's no nice way to say this. Norton is the sort of stupid that shouldn't be allowed to walk the streets without an escort. Thing is, absurdist levels of stupidity isn't a prosecutable offense; it is a lead pipe cinch that she was not in cahoots with the malfactor(s) in this story, because this caper doesn't even rise to the level of scams preying upon the elderly. She and her underlings were just tired of writing checks. Boring, pedestrian, provide a paper trail and require two signatures for large amount checks.
Clean out the gang of morons responsible, and fire her.
Warren County Democrats and good government groups should petition the governor's office to remove Norton as treasurer. Just imagine what ruthless county Repuklicans would be doing -- and howling -- if a Democrat treasurer pulled this boneheaded play, on top of Norton's checkered past.
What about her statement that she immediately called the bank and followed their instructions and protocol? I mean, yes it seems obvious now that she should have called the Sheriff's office, but at the time, if she was as scared as I would have been, maybe the only thing she was thinking about was following the instructions the bank was giving her?
Evidently, no one in the Treasurer's office has listened to the MANY warnings regarding scam artists. Did they believe that it was only meant for the elderly? Why no one even considered contacting Peckham Industries is inconceivable. I know no one involved in this matter, however, after working many years in the private sector, I'm sure someone would be clearing out a desk!
Warren County seems to have problems. Always arguing, throwing accusations around. Board meetings getting contentious. The sherriff not really helping this situation.
It's mind boggling how simple the theft was. No computer hacking. Just picking up the phone and asking someone for bank details. NOT ONCE, BUT TWICE!!! People who aren't financial professionals know that in such situations, you call back the business/person they are claiming to be before proceeding.
I wondered about this and thought someone was at fault, that much mk ey should have been questioned especially if done outside normal procedures, I agree a simple phone call was needed
Wow!
(But then again, should we be surprised?)
I think Warren County taxpayers should be outraged. Whether or not there were safeguards in place, Warren County officials were scammed and they were at fault.
Wow. High level of conflict between the sheriff and the treasurer. Any thoughts on why?
Her responsibility to pay bills. It appears she screwed up. And then didnt bother to call the sheriff.
Was she hoping no one would notice a few million dollars were missing, or are her hands dirty?
Norton's playing with house money, as gamblers like to say. She's too busy making sure her fellow Repuklicans/CONServatives win every office in the county, hosting fundraisers, donating to political BFFs and misusing ARPA money to do a high-level job that shouldn't be what amounts to a political patronage post. I think I'll have the guy who changes the oil in my car do my income taxes this year. 😉
I would think some decent old school Republicans still out there would realize they’re playing for the wrong team, but apparently not. Or if they do they just quit and walk away, instead of helping fix the mess they made.
Thanks Will for this article!
A note to LaFarr: Norton should be allowed to talk, and trying to "not scare" voters is not helping anyone. Voters SHOULD be aware and informed about what level of simple or sophisticated scams municipal voters may be subject to. Is this even LaFarr's jurisdiction of responsibility? Who prosecutes this crime? If it's off to the state comptroller than LaFarr needs to focus on how to educate county employees to online scam protections.
LaFarr doesn't need to scold to help.
Not to defend the sheriff, but saying he was not being fair in the investigation is concerning to me.
As it should be.
Sounds more like someone busted for incompetence trying to cover their own rear end.
Nonsense. If the sheriff feels the treasurer is obstructing his investigation, presumably to cover her own rear end, he OUGHT to scold her for that. Some would argue the response should be more than mere scolding: criminal obstruction of justice charges. The treasurer has very little defense for her office allowing such an astonishingly simple and low-tech scam to work, NOT ONCE BUT TWICE.
Is it his investigation? He scolded her for "scaring people." Who is she scaring, exactly? I think she is fully cooperating with the NY state office of the comptroller. Is he?
Also, if you want to be appropriately scared of where we are in the chasm between law and opportunity, read this: https://www.nytimes.com/article/scam-centers-myanmar-cambodia.html?unlocked_article_code=1.E1A.qJeP.Pi_mhG2Ny-Ki&smid=url-share
THIS WAS NOT AN ONLINE SCAM!! This was some criminal picking up a low-tech telephone, calling the county, asking for their bank info and getting it unquestioningly. NOT ONCE, BUT TWICE!
This is a error you might expect a technophobic senior citizen to make, not a financial professional. And certainly not twice!
County treasurer should not be an elected position.
Even after this fiasco Norton could be re-elected in her next election if the Republican committee/a primary election places her name on the ballot - similar to the situation we saw nationally with Trump.
But, to reiterate other’s comments, wow!
I agree.
This would only be certain if Democrats did not run a candidate, which given the deplorable state of the county party leadership, is almost certain.
I gather that this article does not tell the whole story, BUT I am thoroughly pleased that it reveals as much as it does about what happened.
I hope we'll see more reporting as the sheriff's and state comptroller's investigations continue, and make public statements.
It's why the Front Page is here.
Solid reporting on this institutional failure at the county level. The sheriff's point about basic verification protocols really stands out becaus simply calling a known vendor before wiring millions should be standard practice, not an afterthought. I've seen similar lapses in corporate procurement where people skip verification steps due to time pressure. The lack of procedural guardrails before rolling out ACH payments is pretty much a textbook example of tech adoption without proper risk assesment.
I'm told by people close to the fiasco that Norton, the treasurer, requested county employees to create and install the software program at issue. So, shouldn't she be responsible for learning the system and ensuring all the guardrails are followed on EVERY transaction? That fact -- alone -- requires her to resign and agree never to seek political office in Warren County again. But that's just my opinion because who am I to deny her a six-figure salary, benefits, taxpayer-funded pension and a political patronage/no-show position.
There's no nice way to say this. Norton is the sort of stupid that shouldn't be allowed to walk the streets without an escort. Thing is, absurdist levels of stupidity isn't a prosecutable offense; it is a lead pipe cinch that she was not in cahoots with the malfactor(s) in this story, because this caper doesn't even rise to the level of scams preying upon the elderly. She and her underlings were just tired of writing checks. Boring, pedestrian, provide a paper trail and require two signatures for large amount checks.
Clean out the gang of morons responsible, and fire her.
Warren County Democrats and good government groups should petition the governor's office to remove Norton as treasurer. Just imagine what ruthless county Repuklicans would be doing -- and howling -- if a Democrat treasurer pulled this boneheaded play, on top of Norton's checkered past.
What about her statement that she immediately called the bank and followed their instructions and protocol? I mean, yes it seems obvious now that she should have called the Sheriff's office, but at the time, if she was as scared as I would have been, maybe the only thing she was thinking about was following the instructions the bank was giving her?
Evidently, no one in the Treasurer's office has listened to the MANY warnings regarding scam artists. Did they believe that it was only meant for the elderly? Why no one even considered contacting Peckham Industries is inconceivable. I know no one involved in this matter, however, after working many years in the private sector, I'm sure someone would be clearing out a desk!
Warren County seems to have problems. Always arguing, throwing accusations around. Board meetings getting contentious. The sherriff not really helping this situation.
It's mind boggling how simple the theft was. No computer hacking. Just picking up the phone and asking someone for bank details. NOT ONCE, BUT TWICE!!! People who aren't financial professionals know that in such situations, you call back the business/person they are claiming to be before proceeding.
I wondered about this and thought someone was at fault, that much mk ey should have been questioned especially if done outside normal procedures, I agree a simple phone call was needed