05/07/2026

North Dakota FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office Recover $4.8 Million Dollars Scammed from Dickinson Public Schools

United States Attorney's Office District of North Dakota

 Bismarck – On April 30, 2026, U.S. Attorney Nicholas W. Chase announced, pursuant to a civil warrant, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of North Dakota, working in conjunction with the FBI, seized $4,856,578.51 in money fraudulently obtained from Dickinson Public Schools during a business email compromise scheme. 

           As stated in the filings in civil case number 1:26-cv-008, the FBI and United States Attorney’s Office traced money fraudulently obtained from Dickinson Public Schools to a Citibank account. Thereafter, on March 27, 2026, the United States filed a civil forfeiture complaint and obtained a federal Warrant of Arrest in Rem to seize the money located in this account. On April 22, 2026, pursuant to this seizure warrant, Citibank produced a check to the United States Marshals Service in the amount of $4,856,578.5, which represented money fraudulently obtained from Dickinson Public Schools.

           The United States Attorney’s Office is pursuing this ongoing civil forfeiture lawsuit with the goal of obtaining a final judgment for the seized $4,856,578.51 and then, pursuant to 28 C.F.R. Part 9, will request that the Department of Justice Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF) remit the forfeited funds back to Dickinson Public Schools.

           The timeline for final adjudication of these proceedings is unspecified; however, the United States Attorney’s Office is working diligently to pursue the speedy resolution of this matter.