- Charlene Corley
-
Charlene Corley is a former defense contractor who was convicted in 2007 on two counts of conspiracy.[1] Over the course of nine years leading up to September 2006, the company owned by Corley and her sister was found to have received over 20 million dollars from the United States Department of Defense for fraudulent shipping costs; in one instance, the company was paid $998,798 for shipping two 19-cent washers.[1][2] In 2009, Corley was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay $15.5 million in restitution.[3]
Crime
Along with her twin sister Darlene Wooten, Corley was the co-owner of C&D Distributors, a supplier of small hardware components, plumbing fixtures and electronic equipment to the military. The company used a computerized government system that allowed shipping costs for each order to be submitted separately and automatically reimbursed. Using the system, C&D Distributors received payment from the Department of Defense on 112 fraudulent invoices, totaling 20.5 million dollars in illegitimate charges, for parts sent to priority military installations, including destinations in Iraq and Afghanistan.[1]
Among the invoices submitted by C&D Distributors were:
- $445,640 for shipping an $8.75 elbow pipe
- $492,096 for shipping a $10.99 machine thread plug
- $403,436 for shipping six machine screws worth a total of $59.94[1]
The scheme was discovered in September 2006. According to a Pentagon spokesman, the system has been modified to safeguard against similar exploitation in the future.[1]
Aftermath
In October 2006, Darlene Wooten committed suicide after being approached by federal investigators.[1] She left behind a suicide note and a check made out to the Defense Department for 4.5 million dollars.[3]
Corley pled guilty in August 2007 to two conspiracy charges to commit wire fraud and money laundering, each charge carrying a maximum sentence of twenty years.[1] She was freed on bond until sentencing.[3] In March 2009, she was sentenced to the minimum recommended sentence of six and a half years in federal prison. The judge rejected Corley's request to serve the time in a halfway house. Corley was also ordered to pay $15.5 million in restitution, at a minimum rate of $300 per month.[3]
Corley claimed that Wooten had been more responsible for the scheme and had received more benefit.[1] During the sentencing, Corley's attorneys asked the judge to consider Corley’s clean criminal history and her record of community service. They presented a video featuring eight Corley supporters, including several from Pineview Elementary School, where Corley had become a mentor to an autistic child. The boy's mother and grandmother testified in court about their immense appreciation for the help Corley had given their family, and the mother said that she would bring her son to visit Corley wherever she went. Corley herself told the court, "I messed up really bad. I'm sorry. I'm desperately ashamed."[3]
Following the guilty plea, Corley's possessions stemming from the fraud became subject to seizure by the South Carolina United States Attorney's office.[2] Corley's spending had included, according to various news reports, at least six pieces of property including four beach homes at Edisto Island; a collection of ten cars including a BMW, a Lexus, and matching Mercedes-Benzes; expensive jewelry and vacations; five businesses, including a cookie store; and a $250,000 luxury box at the football stadium of Clemson University, Corley's alma mater.[1][2][3] A prosecutor at Corley’s sentencing claimed the spending list spanned "ten pages, single-spaced."[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Merle, Renae. "Defense Contractor Was Paid $1 Million to Ship 2 Washers." The Washington Post, 2007-08-17, p. D02.
- ^ a b c Zimmerman, Matthew. "Convicted War Profiteer Still Lives High Life." ABC News, 2006-06-19.
- ^ a b c d e f g LeBlanc, Clif. "Woman Gets 6½ Years for Bilking Taxpayers." The State, 2009-03-03.
Categories:- American fraudsters
- Living people
- American people convicted of fraud
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