Former Michigan employee sentenced for personal use of state-owned vehicles
(CBS DETROIT) - A former Michigan employee has been sentenced to three years probation for using state-owned vehicles for personal use and accumulating more than $47,000 in usage and mileage fees.
Rufus Chappell, 64, of Farmington Hills, was ordered to pay $47,214 in restitution to the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency. According to the Michigan Attorney General's office, he was found guilty of embezzlement in April.
Chappell was given permission to use the state motor pool vehicles as an unemployment examiner with the UIA to attend insurance benefit appeal hearings.
However, the state began investigating him after his driver's license was suspended. The investigation revealed that between August 2015 and January 2019, Chappell misused the vehicles on weekends, holidays, and outside of business hours.
"The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency will aggressively pursue anyone who breaks the law while working for the agency," said UIA Director Julia Dale in a statement. "We expect staff to be models of ethical behavior. We won't waver from our mission to serve Michigan's residents with integrity and have put in place strict ethics policies for employees and contractors."