Mark C. Simpson, 51, of Lake Park, Georgia, has been hit with a double-whammy as he enters guilty pleas for a child support collection fraud scheme and a drug conspiracy involving the distribution of cocaine.
Simpson, along with his co-defendant Stuart C. Cole, is accused of operating a fraudulent private child support collection business known as Child Support Services of Atlanta. They duped custodial parents into signing collection agreements, promising to assist in collecting payments from non-custodial parents while falsely claiming the fees would be covered by the latter.
This scheme swindled over $2.3 million from unsuspecting parents, with only a fraction going to support the children. Simpson and Cole pocketed around $1.2 million for their lavish lifestyles, including high-end property leases.
In addition to the child support fraud, Simpson admitted to laundering funds collected through various bank accounts, including one claimed to be a church account, under the guise of ‘love gifts’.
On top of the fraudulent child support business, Simpson also faces charges for conspiring with others to distribute cocaine in Georgia. He was stopped on I-85 in Troup County carrying 13 kilograms of cocaine. The court has scheduled sentencing for April 4, 2014, where he faces up to twenty years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 for the mail and wire fraud conspiracy and up to twenty years for the money laundering charge.
In the cocaine distribution case, Simpson faces an additional mandatory minimum of ten years to life imprisonment and a maximum fine of $10 million. U.S. Attorney Michael Moore commented that Simpson and Cole exploited vulnerable parents struggling to raise their children alone without the financial support due from absent non-custodial parents.
Related Federal Cases
- Child Support Scammers Mark Simpson and Stuart Cole Jailed · Texas
- Cole & Simpson Indicted for Mail Fraud, Extortion, Money Laundering · Georgia
- Advisor Bleeds Elderly Man Dry: $10M Fraud Exposed · Georgia
- Haitian Community Targeted: Menard Indicted in $600K Fraud · Puerto Rico
- Woods and Gilchrist Face Federal Charges in Georgia Drug Ring · Georgia
Key Facts
- State: Georgia
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes|Drug Trafficking|Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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