PORTLAND, Ore. — A woman accused of breaching the city of Portland's computer network in April 2022 to steal about $1.4 million — funds that were intended to go to Central City Concern for the construction of affordable housing — was arrested Wednesday in Florida, the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office reported.
Chantail Williams, 39, was arraigned Thursday on seven charges related to stealing and laundering public funds. Bail was set at $100,000.
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Police began investigating on May 26, 2022 when they were told that the city's computer network had been breached. According to detectives, Williams posed as an employee of Central City Concern to fraudulently access the email account of an employee of the Portland Housing Bureau on April 25, 2022. She then used that access to misdirect approximately $1.4 million, wiring the funds to a bank account in Florida that belonged to her.
Detectives said she made wire transfers from the bank account in Florida to other accounts, including international accounts, and a Cash App account that belonged to her. Most of the money, about $1.396 million, was transferred to a bank in Mexico in three separate wire transactions from May 3-6, 2022, according to court documents.
The district attorney's office said detectives found that $25,000 in cash was withdrawn from the Florida account, and a debit card associated with the account was used to purchase a Hyundai vehicle. Home furnishings were also purchased through use of the Florida account. According to court documents, detectives discovered video Williams posted to her Facebook page that showed her gifting the Hyundai to her mother.
Court documents indicate Williams communicated with an unidentified co-conspirator going by the name of Yatisha Roberson on multiple occasions, asking questions about transferring the funds from the city of Portland to her bank account in Florida. Detectives determined that Williams kept $70,000 of the stolen money and facilitated the transfer of the remaining balance to unknown co-conspirators by wiring $1.396 million to the bank in Mexico.
Williams was indicted Feb. 26, 2024 on multiple charges, including one count each of first-degree aggravated theft, aggravated identity theft and felony computer crime, and two counts each of laundering monetary instrument and criminal conspiracy to commit laundering monetary incident.
The indictment was sealed, and an arrest warrant was issued. Williams was arrested on Wednesday in Florida and transferred to Multnomah County custody before her arraignment Thursday.
“Most of the charges the defendant is facing are class b felonies in Oregon, so that means the maximum sentence is 10 years," said Tung Yin at Lewis and Clarke Law School. "Although in some instances, the judge could sentence consecutively. ... Harming those who have the least in our society, and it's allegedly being used for personal gain, so I think that would be an aggravating factor."
Williams is due back in court May 24.