Committed coverage
Our I-Team has covered this story from the beginning, exposing oversight failures that allowed the thefts to occur.
The 14 people charged this week in a check-cashing scheme that bilked the city of Dayton out of $385,000 were among more than 50 potential defendants in the case.
A Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman said 51 people were considered for charges and 46 became defendants.
RELATED: City failed to notice theft for years
Most received $2,500 checks from the “Morals Fund,” written by former Dayton law department executive secretary Christen C. Turner, who was fired in December 2013. The fund was set aside to pay claims the city is liable for such as property damage caused by city workers.
A 2013 internal city review of city finances reported on by this news organization’s I-Team exposed the office’s apparent lack of checks and balances. Police said Turner was the only city employee involved.
Originally, prosecutors thought 33 of Turner’s friends were involved in the five-year criminal scheme in which Turner would create false claims in her friends’ names, sign approval for the fake claims and give the checks to them.
“They identified more,” prosecutor’s office spokesman Greg Flannagan said Thursday. “We did dismiss (some) charges that we had initially had approved because there was no way to positively identify them.”
Flannagan said that of the first 32 defendants, 13 were sentenced or given community control, four were granted intervention in lieu of conviction, four completed a diversion program, nine are in diversion and two are being screened for diversion.
The 14 most recent defendants — two of whom face second-degree felony charges for engaging in a pattern of corrupt behavior — are scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 15.
Turner, who began working for the city in 1996, was sentenced in February 2015 to five years in prison and ordered to pay restitution of nearly $386,000. Turner was convicted of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, theft in office and 143 counts of tampering with government records.
In an interview with the I-Team in 2014, defendant Shannon Richards acknowledged her role in the thefts but said none of her relatives were aware their names appeared on checks totalling $47,500.
A statement emailed by Dayton officials late Thursday afternoon said the incident led to a thorough review and overhaul of that process.
“The most significant changes are that now every Moral Obligation Claim is reviewed and approved by two separate attorneys in the Law Department,” read a statement attributed to City Manager Shelley Dickstein. “All moral obligation disbursements are tracked and a monthly log is provided to the city manager. The compiled list of disbursements is then reconciled by a financial analyst in the Department of Finance.
“Also there is a detailed finance policy established for the Moral Obligation Claims. We have created a system of checks and balances so that we are accountable and have greater transparency with our Moral Obligation Claims.”
Trina Frazier, 56, of Dayton, was indicted on charges of complicity to commit grand theft, engaging in a pattern of corrupt behavior and grand theft. Frazier has a felony conviction for possession of cocaine.
Vironica Nichols, 37, of Dayton, was indicted for complicity to commit grand theft, engaging in a pattern of corrupt behavior and theft.
Elverna Phillips, 53, of Dayton, was indicted for complicity to commit grand theft. Gerald Robinson, 62, of Dayton, was indicted for grand theft.
Those indicted for theft were: Brooke Hutchins, 28, of Trotwood; Myron Moon, 59, of Dayton; Lance Alexander, 35, of Trotwood; Dale Young, 59, of Dayton; Beverly A. Rowe, 52, of Dayton; Tawanna Calloway, 34, of Dayton; Denisha Taylor, 24, of Dayton; Latasha Frazier, 39, of Trotwood; Tania Bronaugh, 43, of Dayton; and Tamika L. Thomas, 35, of Dayton.
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