PUB GETS $1.3 MILLION: "WE KNOW WHERE THE MONEY IS AT"

By Juan Montoya

Sources close to the investigation into the missing $1.3 million payment made by the Brownsville Public Utility Board Finance Department to a vendor through a local bank say that they know where the money is at, but that they have not yet retrieved it.

Concurrently, another source close to the probe of the swindle facilitated by a forged email authorizing the department to redirect the payroll payment to Texas Noble Builders says Bank of America has agreed to reimburse the PUB for the $1.3 million overpayment to Noble in the coming days.

"As far as we know, PUB is getting its money back soon from one of the banks," stated the source who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to comment publicly on the matter. "We'll see in the coming days if they were bullshitting us."

"The money's whereabouts is known," said another source close to the investigators, but would not comment on whether it was locally or out the region or the country."It's not technically a reimbursement," they said. "The criminal investigation continues."

In a nutshell, the PUB administration claims that it was an oversight by a payment processor which is to blame for the release of a $1.3 million payroll payment to Texas Noble Builders after receiving a completed  electronic payment form bearing the alleged signature of Rene Capistran - Texas Noble Builders CEO back in February 11.

The form authorized PUB to instruct its bank – Wells Fargo – to deposit the $1.3 million March 11 payment owed to Noble Builders in a new account at Bank of America instead of Lone State Bank, where Capistran is a bank officer.

That form was received by PUB's ACH employee who then passed it on to another clerk for processing. There was no follow up by anyone on its authenticity, calls to the Bank of America on the account to confirm it, or even a call to Capistran on whether he had indeed  changed accounts. An  internal audit allegedly states that no such security requirements are in place at Finance to prevent it.

But the alleged notice of change of the Noble account to Bank of America was sent to PUB's bank, Wells Fargo, who on the date of payment, March 11 - a month after the February 11 alleged change of banks and accounts - dutifully used ACH to transfer the funds to Bank of America.

That was the morning of March 11. By 4:45 p.m., when Noble Builders called PUB about the $1.3 million it had not received, they were told that the deposit had been made with their new bank and PUB showed them the form allegedly filled and sent by Capistran. Noble Builders immediately notified PUB that Capistran's signature was a forgery.

Attached to the forged authorization form were the account numbers for the firm at Lone Star National Bank and the new account number at Bank of America.

When PUB called Wells Fargo to attempt to stop payment on the transfer after Capistran told them his signature  had been forged, they were told that it was too late and the funds had already been sent to the Bank of America account. Then all hell broke loose.

Once the swindle was discovered, PUB administrator notified the City of Brownsville Police Department and the FBI. The Cameron County District Attorneys' Office has also confirmed to the local daily that they were assisting on the case.

By now, investigators say they know what happened at Bank of America and how its bank officers allowed the withdrawal of the $1.3 million on short notice. By the time they were alerted, the money was gone.