A former finance director of the Maine-based nonprofit Women Unlimited has pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud after she falsified transaction reports and used the company credit card for unauthorized purchases including extra add-ons in the mobile phone game Candy Crush.
Sam Shepherd filed this report in centralmaine.com:
Jessica Childs, 38, of Litchfield, whose wire fraud charge was connected to the nonprofit and Kennebec Savings Bank, faces a maximum of 30 years in prison, a maximum fine of $1 million and may be ordered to pay restitution, according to court documents.
Lib Jamison, executive director of Women Unlimited when it closed its doors, told the Kennebec Journal on Friday that she discovered Childs’ wrongdoing in October 2015 when she and an employee discussed Childs coming into work late and leaving early. Shortly after that meeting, a forensic audit that discovered years of falsified transaction reports and records of cash advances resulted in Childs being fired. “This was like layers of an onion,” Jamison said. “The betrayal, not even for myself, but for my staff was staggering.”
Further, Jamison said Childs made an Amazon account where she made “enormous numbers of purchases” on the company credit card, including “a significant number of lives in Candy Crush” — a popular mobile puzzle game.
Women Unlimited was a statewide nonprofit that offered employment support and prepare women — and later other disadvantaged populations — for work a number of trades. Jamison said the nonprofit closed March 11, 2016, which was “directly correlated” to Childs’s actions. She could not remember how much money the nonprofit was defrauded, but said it was more than the $302 referenced in the court docket.
