Hennepin County workers accused in swindle scheme

The nearly $90,000 in government money was supposed to help low-income residents of Hennepin County with basic living expenses such as housing and food.

Instead, a pair of county employees hijacked the identities of low-income clients to arrange fraudulent public rental-assistance payments to five Twin Cities landlords, who then apparently shared the proceeds with the publicly employed thieves on the inside, according to documents obtained Tuesday.

Human Service representatives Yolanda Faye Williams, 34, and Felicia Bell, 37, are charged with 38 counts of theft by swindle of government funds between them, plus a count each of identity theft.

The charges accuse them of issuing bogus assistance checks in the names of real clients who had not recently come in for assistance, and giving it to landlords who allegedly pretended to accept it for the benefit of the clients.

Williams, of Brooklyn Center, is accused of funneling $30,750 to the landlords, and Bell, of Brooklyn Park, is accused of directing $57,000 to them.

The landlords, who face multiple counts of the same charges as their alleged conspirators, were identified as Keith Joseph McMoore, 33, of Golden Valley, Augastine L. Sylvester, 34, of Minneapolis, Israel Moses, 36, of Brooklyn Park, Cassell Bobo, 40, of Brooklyn Park, and Tremayne R. Williams, 33, of Brooklyn Center.

Whether Tremayne and Yolanda Williams are related could not immediately be determined.

In a memo to the County Board of Commissioners, William Brumfield, area director of the county's Human Services and Public Health Department, said, "We are dismayed at these employees' alleged activities."

He oversaw the women who worked with nearly 500 other employees in the "Eligibility Supports Area" at Century Plaza at 330 S. 12th St.

County Attorney Mike Freeman issued a statement expressing disappointment and vowing that, "We will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law."

The county workers have been on administrative leave from their jobs since June. They were charged last Thursday but not arrested. Attempts to reach them late Tuesday were unsuccessful.

The landlords cashed the checks and presumably provided kickbacks to the county workers, Brumfield said. Four of the landlords couldn't be reached. The fifth, Sylvester, said she had spoken to investigators, but she declined to comment on the charges because she said she didn't know anything about them.

In a separate alleged scheme, Aaron M. Shaw II, 28, of Cottage Grove, who worked in the same capacity as the two women in the same county department, is accused of electronically transferring $73,800 in public assistance money into the accounts of ineligible recipients and then taking the money.

Shaw was arrested in April but charged on Thursday along with the others. He, too, could not be reached. All three workers are scheduled to be in court Nov. 17. Brumfield said no county clients lost money in the alleged scams.

The charges against the three are complicated and involve numerous other names. Bell faces 25 charges of theft by swindle of public funds and one count of felony identity theft. The complaint against her runs 21 pages. Yolanda Williams faces 13 counts of theft by swindle of public funds and one count of identity theft.

Bell and Yolanda Williams allegedly issued checks to the landlords, purportedly for assistance with rental deposits and first-month rental payments, the complaint said.

The women's alleged scam initially surfaced with a report from a client to the fraud office. The complaints against the woman didn't indicate how the client became suspicious.

The women have worked longer than five years for the county. Shaw, who has been an employee for nearly four, faces 12 counts of theft by swindle of public funds and one count of identity theft. No one is charged with working with him.

A routine audit in November 2008 allegedly revealed that Shaw had improperly issued $300 in moving expenses to at least five people. Investigators then began looking into other clients handled by Shaw and found seven more who supposedly were receiving money but weren't eligible, the complaint against him said.

Investigators found that many of Shaw's purported clients lacked the required Medical Opinion Form, which proves a client's disability, the complaint said.

In his memo to the board, Brumfield wrote, "We trust our employees and believe they are committed to the county's goals of building healthy communities and self-reliant individuals."

Hennepin County Board Chairman Mike Opat declined to comment.

The matters are not connected to an investigation still being conducted into the activities of four Hennepin County District Court employees who remain on leave. Those employees work in the Hennepin County Government Center but are employed by the state.

Staff Writer Kevin Duchschere and librarian Sandy Date contributed to this report. • Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747