Scammer steals $500k meant for Field of Dreams, lawsuit claims
DYERSVILLE, IOWA — "If you build it, they will come." It's true for ghost baseball players ... and apparently scammers, too, at the Field of Dreams.
According to a lawsuit filed in Dubuque County on Thursday, someone posing as the city clerk for the city of Dyersville successfully scammed the county out of more than a half-million dollars in federal money.
last November, the lawsuit states, the actual city clerk in Dyersville submitted an invoice to Dubuque County officials via e-mail to request a paper check be issued to them for $524,283.88. The money came from a federal grant and was earmarked for work on the Field of Dreams site.
However, according to the lawsuit, third-party scammers had access to Dyersville's email system and sent a follow message to Dubuque County and asked that the money be paid electronically instead of by check.
"Despite never having made an electronic funds transfer payment to Dyersville in the past and despite the fact that the request for payment was to an out-of-state bank with no connection to Dyersville or the State of Iowa, County personnel issued the payment via electronic funds transfer," the lawsuit alleges and "The County took no action to reach out to anyone in Dyersville to confirm the request for electronic funds transfer or to verify the account into which the funds were to be deposited."
Scammer steals $500k meant for Field of Dreams, lawsuit claims
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Dyersville is seeking repayment from Dubuque County of the $524,000 they are owed plus attorneys fees. The city accuses the county of Breach of Contract for not fulfilling their responsibility to distribute money accurately as well as Negligence for not exercising due caution in its job as a gatekeeper of the city's money.
The filming site of the 1988 Kevin Costner film has been a tourist attraction since the after film was released. In 2021 and 2022, the field at the site hosted Major League Baseball games. The site is in the middle of a massive overhaul using state and federal funds that will add new fields for youth tournaments.
No plans to play future MLB games at the site have been announced. A TV series based on the show was reportedly set to begin production at Peacock before it was canceled at the last minute.
