Maxine Williams, 48, of Washington, D.C., stands accused of siphoning more than $110,000 in donor checks from a local nonprofit she was trusted to serve. Federal authorities unmasked the scheme this week as Williams faced a criminal complaint charging her with interstate transportation of stolen property—a grim fall for an administrative assistant once tasked with handling charitable giving.
The nonprofit, based in the District of Columbia, employed Williams between February 2015 and March 2018. Her duties included opening mail, processing donation checks, and cutting payments to vendors and individuals. Instead of upholding that duty, Williams allegedly funneled 123 donation checks—totaling $110,830—into her personal Bank of America account from February 2016 through December 2017, according to the affidavit filed in support of the complaint.
The theft first came to light in March 2018 when the organization noticed six donation checks—worth about $18,000—had gone missing. Confronted by her employers, Williams admitted to depositing four of the checks into her account. That confession cracked open a deeper trail of fraud, revealing an additional 21 checks, meant for vendors or individuals, were also diverted into her account between November 2015 and May 2016. Those alone added $11,702 to her illicit haul.
The scheme relied on access and trust—both of which Williams exploited. As the employee responsible for processing incoming donations, she had the opportunity to intercept checks before they were logged. Instead of depositing them into the nonprofit’s accounts, she allegedly rerouted them to herself, slipping through the cracks for nearly three years.
Williams was presented before United States Magistrate Judge Robin M. Meriweather in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. While the criminal complaint establishes probable cause, it is not evidence of guilt. Williams is presumed innocent until proven otherwise in a court of law. Still, the paper trail laid out by investigators paints a damning picture of financial betrayal.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Washington Division and the Metropolitan Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kondi Kleinman is prosecuting. Acting U.S. Attorney Michael R. Sherwin, Postal Inspector-in-Charge Peter Rendina, and MPD Chief Peter Newsham all confirmed the charges, signaling federal and local authorities’ sharpened focus on internal nonprofit fraud.
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Key Facts
- State: Washington DC
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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