The town of Peterborough, which was bilked out of a $1.2 million payment intended for the ConVal School District, has reached an agreement with the district on how to start repaying the lost money.
An additional $125,000 per month will be added to the town’s payment to the district through December “with the understanding that as soon as the Town was able we would bring the account current,” Town Administrator Nicole MacStay said in an email Monday.
The town’s July 23 electronic payment to the school district went missing along with two payments to bridge contractor Beck & Bellucci. Fraudsters posing as the district and the contractor persuaded town staff members by email to change the routing of the transactions.
Money lost in the scam totaled $2.3 million before the Secret Service recovered $594,331 intended for the bridge contractor. The town has repaid the balance of the money it owed to the Beck & Bellucci.
It’s not clear how much of the overall loss may be covered by the town’s NH Primex insurance.
MacStay said she met with representatives of Primex last week, but does not yet have notification of how much will be covered.
Also last week, selectmen agreed to overspend their budget by $1.7 million to cover costs of the scam.
The town can cover the loss by tapping a $3 million unrestricted fund balance, money that accrues after obligations are met.