Image: Department of Justice (D.O.J.)
Image: Department of Justice (D.O.J.)
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO)– A former nonprofit finance director has pled guilty to one count of theft of government funds for misappropriating funds, says the DOJ.
Midlands woman Ashley Clark Ingram is accused of applying for an employee retention tax credit for retaining employees during the COVID-19 pandemic from the IRS on behalf of Habitat for Humanity without the knowledge of the nonprofit.
Ingram then received checks totaling $388,550.75 from the U.S. Treasury and deposited the funds into a Habitat for Humanity account that she controlled, says the DOJ.
Evidence found during the investigation revealed that Ingram transferred the money from the Habitat for Humanity account into multiple personal bank accounts and appropriated it for her own use.
The Department of Justice says, in total she misappropriated about $514,672.37 from Habitat for Humanity and the U.S. government.
Ingram faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison, a fine of up to $250,000, restitution, and a total of three years of supervision to follow a term of imprisonment.
A United States district judge accepted the Columbia woman’s guilty plea and will sentence her at a future date after receiving and reviewing a sentencing report prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.
