Another former Department of Social Services employee pleaded guilty to stealing funds from the department as part of an ongoing investigation.
United States Attorney Walt Wilkins announced that 50-year old Ronald Bennett, of Columbia, pled guilty to theft of federal program funds. Bennett is among a handful of people who have already pled guilty for their role in an alleged scheme to embezzle more than $5.2 million from the Department of Social Services.
Acccording to Wilkins, Bennett admitted to cashing five DSS checks that were procured by fraud and recruiting others to cash additional checks. In June, Jonathan Moses pled guilty to the charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, theft of government property and money laundering. Moses, 42, and also of Columbia, recruited individuals to cash the checks and split the proceeds.
"Stealing money from DSS that could have been used to help the needy and underprvileged is reprehensible," said Wilkins. "These guilty pleas affirm our office's commitment to prosecute those who illegally line their pockets with public dollars. We are committed to vigorously prosecuting each and every individual involved in any respect in this scheme."
Former DSS Finance Director Paul Moore was indicted in February for allegedly using his position to authorize the issuance of hundreds of DSS checks worth $7,000 each between May 2004 and October 2008.
The maximum penalty for theft of federal funds is 10 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement