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Last updated on Thursday, September 27, 2012
(INDIANAPOLIS) - Federal authorities announced indictments Wednesday naming an Indianapolis couple in a multi-million dollar fraud case involving their operation of a number of area day care facilities.
Jack Rinehart, of TheIndyChannel.com reports, the 27-count indictment names Donald E. Crumpton, 55, and his wife LaFawn Crumpton, 45, who were the registered owners of nearly a dozen day care facilities that operated under the name of Little Miracles.
The Crumptons face charges of conspiring to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiring to commit money laundering, money laundering and the falsification of records in a federal investigation.
"The allegations in this indictment tell a story of greed run amok, of a business that used Indianapolis children to steal millions in taxpayer money," U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett said in a news release. "This indictment also represents a warning as to how seriously this office treats allegations involving a culture of corruption that for too long has plagued Indiana's business community."
The indictment said the Crumptons defrauded a number of federal and state agencies for day care services that they did not provide and for snacks and meals that they did not serve to impoverished children.
Hogsett alleges that the Crumptons also used their ill-gotten gains to open other day care facilities in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Between 2006 and 2011, state and federal agencies paid the Crumptons more than $9 million.
The government said that most of that money went directly into the Crumptons' pockets.
In addition to the day care centers, the Crumptons allegedly used their funds to purchase at least 27 other commercial and residential properties.
The government has filed a forfeiture action to take control of those properties.
The Crumptons will appear in court Thursday to determine if they'll get bail or if they'll remain behind bars until trial.
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