Another one...
Aiken Standard: Ex-DOE contractor charged with theft of gov’t funds
Publication: 3/8/12
A former Department of Energy contractor at the Savannah River Site was charged this week in a four-count federal indictment with theft of government funds and making false statements to government officials.
Gregory Richey, 41, of Hempstead, N.C., allegedly claimed eligibility for per diem benefits that he received through a program funded by DOE, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office press release. If convicted, the maximum penalty Richey could receive is up to 10 years in prison.
Richey’s charges follow a number of other federal indictments in the past year or so of other DOE contract employees who have submitted false per diem claims.
In the past year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office worked with DOE’s Office of Investigations to uncover schemes by various employees who submitted fraudulent claims. The investigations resulted in three criminal convictions and three cases in which the defendants entered into the federal pretrial diversion program.
The investigations also resulted in the recovery of more than $1 million in restitution and penalties, of which more than $700,000 was money funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The South Carolina investigations resulted in the first criminal conviction and first civil settlements related to fraudulently obtained ARRA funds in the nation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. It is unclear if the allegedly fraudulent per diem benefits that Richey claimed were provided through ARRA funding.
