UPDATE: The city of Ocala issued a statement Wednesday saying that “City of Ocala was the victim of a fraudulent scheme that resulted in the theft of $277,799.81.” ORIGINAL POST: The city of Ocala was scammed out of about $500,000 this spring, but the first public acknowledgment of this came at the Aug. 4 City Council meeting. To the chagrin of City Manager Peter Lee and at least one city council member, it was council member James Hilty Sr. who raised the issue. “I still have this feeling that if we got the money back this wouldn’t have been transparent to the public,” Hilty said. Lee didn’t disagree.