Milwaukee hearing on accounting managerappeal centers on whether repeated ACH warnings warranted discharge

The Board of City Service Commissioners met Nov. 10 to hear the discharge appeal of Christopher Huante, the former accounting manager in the City of Milwaukee ComptrollerOffice. The comptrollersaid Huante failed to escalate a string of email warnings about suspected ACH (electronic) fraud that preceded misdirected payments of about $460,000; Huante and his attorney said the evidence shows missed oversight and delegation, not misconduct. The panel scheduled a continuation for Nov. 18 to hear additional witnesses and closing arguments.

Assistant City Attorney Katherine Headley, speaking for the comptrolleroffice, described a multi-stage investigation and presented a chain of emails and documents she said showed numerous chances to notice and report suspicious vendor-account changes. "Mr. Huante was given not 1, not 2, not 3, but 14 different opportunities to rectify a mistake that cost the city over a $100,000," Headley told the commission, pointing to an ACH authorization form and a bank verification letter she characterized as riddled with "red flags." Deputy Comptroller Charles Radel, who led the officeinvestigation, testified that the documentation and email threads showed a bad actor using a fraudulent domain to request changes and that the office later learned of a prior, similar incident the treasurerhad investigated.

Radel said staff eventually recorded a payment made on July 15, 2025 that he described as…