Republican Says ‘Cyber-Criminal’ Stole Nearly $700,000 From Senate Campaign

Station Gossip: The campaign staff of Republican Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran said that a “cyber-criminal” had taken nearly $690,000 from his campaign funds, according to an election filing. 

Moran’s campaign treasurer, Timothy Gottschalk, wrote in a Federal Election Commission filing on December 8, 2022 that money had been taken from the campaign by a “third party cyber criminal,” a claim which is now being investigated by the FBI.

“On November 14, 2022, our office was contacted by Astra Bank to notify us of potentially fraudulent activity concerning recent wire transfers to SRCP Media, Inc. After communications with staff, it was determined that two wires were sent for payment of fraudulent invoices. One wire was sent on October 25, 2022, for $345,000.00, and a second wire on November 9, 2022, for $345,000.00. For a total of $690,000.00,” Gottschalk wrote in the filing, first reported by Raw Story.

The Kansas City Star noted that Moran’s campaign purchased media time for commercials through SRCP during the election, which Moran won with 60% of the vote to Democrat challenger Mark Holland’s 37%. 

According to Moran’s office, they reported the incident to the Republic County Sheriff’s Office on November 16, before the investigation was turned over to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the FBI. more