Investigating the scamming of a Lackawanna County department

The Lackawanna County DA's office is investigating a scam that targeted the County Department of Arts and Culture out of nearly $60,000. Investigators are seeking the identities of IP addresses associated with an electronic fund transfer seemingly made to the vendor that supplied rental tents for December's annual Winter Market on Courthouse Square in downtown Scranton. The person requesting the funds of Maureen McGuigan, the county's director of Arts and Culture, was a criminal who mimicked the email and tone of McGuigan's usual point of contact for the tent rental business, L & A Tent Rentals, of New Jersey. The county awarded L&A the contract and finance records show the county paid out $56,689.75 in January to cover the rental bill. As for the Winter Market, it’s expected to return to Courthouse Square this December. However, vendors will be housed in tents bought outright for $175,000, raised through the county’s share of state online gambling taxes.