Shaun Lindsey, Fraud Scheme, Virginia 2022

State: Virginia
Category: Fraud &#038; Financial Crimes
Source: <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/richmond-city-department-public-works-employee-pleads-guilty-fraud-scheme" style="color:#cc0000;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">DOJ Press Release ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Â Ã¢â‚¬â€

A Richmond woman pleaded guilty today to using her position within the City of Richmond Department of Public Works (DPW) to steer governmental contract awards towards herself and her co-conspirators.

Shaun Lindsey, 53, a Senior Administrative Technician at DPW, was responsible for managing and obtaining approval for DPW procurements with outside vendors before she was placed on administrative leave in February 2022.

From at least 2018 through 2021, Lindsey and her co-conspirators operated a scheme to defraud the DPW, using straw companies to bid on DPW work and circumventing Virginia law and City of Richmond rules against self-dealing by public employees.

Lindsey and her co-conspirators designated and approved DPW work to be performed by these straw companies using their positions at DPW, sometimes subcontracting the work out for profit upon winning the DPW work.

In one instance, Lindsey steered a $28,700 contract award to her boyfriend, and within days of her straw company winning work, she sent checks for a portion of the funds to a senior DPW leader, Lindsey’s co-conspirator.

Lindsey’s scheme caused DPW to disburse at least $603,701 in funds to companies owned by Lindsey and her co-conspirators, causing $226,767 in loss to DPW.

Lindsey is scheduled to be sentenced on August 29 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The case was announced by Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office; and James Osuna, Inspector General, City of Richmond Office of the Inspector General.

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