Congresswoman Corrine Brown and her chief of staff were
indicted yesterday for their alleged roles in a conspiracy and fraud scheme
involving a fraudulent education charity.
Brown, 69, of Jacksonville, Florida, and her chief of staff,
Elias “Ronnie” Simmons, 50, of Laurel, Maryland, were charged yesterday in a
24-count indictment with participating in a conspiracy to commit mail and wire
fraud, multiple counts of mail and wire fraud, concealing material facts on
required financial disclosure forms, theft of government property, obstruction
of the due administration of the internal revenue laws, and filing false tax
returns.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty during a court hearing that took place in Jacksonville, Fla.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty during a court hearing that took place in Jacksonville, Fla.
U.S. Attorney A. Lee Bentley III, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Michelle Klimt of the FBI’s Jacksonville Division, and Special Agent in Charge Kim Lappin of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Tampa Field Office made the announcement.
“Our Office is committed to ferreting out and prosecuting
all forms of corruption and fraud, regardless of who the offender is,” said
U.S. Attorney Bentley. “In our nation, no one is above the law.”
"Congresswoman Brown and her chief of staff are alleged
to have used the Congresswoman's official position to solicit over $800,000 in
donations to a supposed charitable organization, only to use that organization
as a personal slush fund," said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. "Corruption erodes the public's trust in
our entire system of representative government.
One of the department's most important responsibilites is to root out
corruption at all levels of government and to bring wrongdoers to
justice."
“Corrupt public officials undermine the integrity of our
government and violate the public’s trust,” said Michelle S. Klimt, Special
Agent in Charge of the FBI Jacksonville Division. “That is why public corruption is the FBI’s
top criminal priority. It is incredibly
disappointing that an elected official, who took an oath year after year to
serve others, would exploit the needs of children and abuse the charitable
hearts of constituents to advance her own personal and political agendas and
deliver them with virtually nothing.”
"The defendants are alleged to have committed a
multitude of criminal violations, including fraudulently receiving and using
hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions meant for a nonprofit
organization for their own personal and professional benefit,” said Richard
Weber, Chief, IRS Criminal Investigation. “The American public expects and
deserves equitable enforcement of our tax laws.”
The indictment alleges that between late 2012 and early
2016, Brown and Simmons participated in a conspiracy and fraud scheme involving
One Door for Education – Amy Anderson Scholarship Fund (One Door) in which the
defendants and others acting on their behalf solicited more than $800,000 in
charitable donations based on false representations that the donations would be
used for college scholarships and school computer drives, among other
things. According to the indictment,
Brown and Simmons allegedly solicited donations from individuals and corporate
entities that Brown knew by virtue of her position in the U.S. House of
Representatives, many of whom the defendants led to believe that One Door was a
properly-registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, when, in fact, it was
not.
Contrary to the defendants’ representations, the indictment
alleges that Brown, Simmons and Carla Wiley, the president of One Door, among
others, used the vast majority of One Door donations for their personal and
professional benefit, including tens of thousands of dollars in cash deposits
that Simmons made to Brown’s personal bank accounts. In one instance, Simmons is alleged to have
deposited $2,100 in One Door funds into Brown’s personal bank account the same
day that Brown wrote a check for a similar amount to pay taxes she owed. Likewise, the indictment alleges that Brown
and Simmons used the outside consulting company of one of Brown’s employees to
funnel One Door funds to Brown and others for their personal use. According to the indictment, more than
$200,000 in One Door funds were used to pay for events hosted by Brown or held
in her honor, including a golf tournament in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida; lavish
receptions during an annual conference in Washington, D.C.; the use of a luxury
box during a concert in Washington, D.C.; and the use of a luxury box during an
NFL game in the Washington, D.C., area.
Despite raising over $800,000 in donations, the indictment
alleges that One Door was associated with only two scholarships totaling $1,200
that were awarded to students to cover expenses related to attending a college
or university.
Simmons is also charged with theft of government property
based on the misuse of his position as Brown’s chief of staff to obtain
congressional employment for a close relative.
Between 2001 and early 2016, Simmons’ relative allegedly received
approximately $735,000 in government salary payments despite performing no
known work for the U.S. House of Representatives. The indictment alleges that between 2009 and
late 2015, Simmons diverted over $80,000 of his relative’s government salary
for his personal benefit, including through transfers to his personal bank
accounts, payments on his personal credit cards and loan payments on his boat.
Simmons and Brown are also charged with failing to disclose,
among other things, the reportable income they received from One Door and the
salary payments that Simmons diverted from his relative’s government employment
on required financial disclosure forms submitted to the U.S. House of
Representatives and made available to the general public.
Brown is also charged with engaging in tax obstruction
between 2008 and 2014 and, in certain years, filing false returns based on her
repeated failure to report income from substantial cash deposits to her
personal bank accounts and her repeated deduction of inflated and fabricated
charitable donations. According to the
indictment, in various years, Brown claimed deductions on her tax returns based
on false donations she claimed she made to One Door, as well as to local churches
and non-profit organizations in the Jacksonville area.
Wiley, the president of One Door, pleaded guilty for her
involvement in the scheme on March 3, 2016.
The charges and allegations contained in an indictment are
merely accusations. The defendants are
presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The FBI and IRS-CI are investigating the case. Deputy Chief Eric G. Olshan of the Criminal
Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys A. Tysen Duva
and Michael J. Coolican of the Middle District of Florida are prosecuting the
case.