GOP Sen. Moran Says Cyber Criminal Took Nearly $700k From His Senate Campaign

The Republican Campaign Staff Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran stated, “a “cyber-criminal” According to an election filing, he had taken almost $690,000. 

Moran’s campaign treasurer, Timothy Gottschalk, wrote in a Federal Election Commission filing On December 8, 2022, the money was taken from the campaign. “third party cyber criminal,” A claim is being investigated by 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 said in the filing: reported 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.

“Cybercriminals targeted the accounting firm employed by Moran For Kansas and money was wired to fraudulent bank accounts,” Tom Brandt was a spokesperson for Moran. “As soon as a discrepancy was realized, it was reported to law enforcement.”

Gottschalk claimed that $168.184.03 was recovered by Gottschalk on November 23. “We are currently pursuing all avenues available to recover the money and there is an ongoing investigation with the FBI,” Brandt added. 

The FBI told It was Axios “aware of the incident” However, we were unable to confirm any additional details. 

Moran, a senator since 2010, is the ranking member on Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies of the Appropriations committee. He is also the top ranking member of Veterans Affairs Committee. 

Moran was one the 18 Republicans in Senate who voted to advance the Democrat’s massive $1.7 trillion omnibus budget in December.