Ex-DPS Official Gets Prison Time For Fraud
DETROIT (WWJ) - A former top official with the Detroit Public Schools will be spending the next five years in prison.
The 60-year-old Stephen Hill has also been ordered to pay $3.32 million in restitution to the school district for accepting cash kickbacks for authorizing DPS wire transfer payments to a vendor who submitted fraudulent invoices for a wellness plan for school employees.
Hill, former Executive Director of the DPS Risk Management Department, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Paul Borman in Detroit.
In announcing the charges Monday, United States Attorney Barbara McQuade said Hill pleaded guilty on May 2, 2011 to one count of Hobbs Act Extortion Under Color of Official Right, and one count of Conspiracy to Commit Program Fraud.
The offenses arose from Hill's involvement in a scheme to honor fraudulent million-dollar invoices submitted by a group called Associates for Learning ("A4L") for implementation of a wellness plan for DPS employees; Hill accepted a five percent cash kickback from A4L members for approving wire transfer payments to A4L upon receipt of the fraudulent invoices.
"We are committed to rooting out public corruption wherever it occurs, but a breach of trust in our schools is particularly offensive. These defendants stole funds intended to benefit school children," McQuade said, in a statement,
FBI Special Agent in Charge Andrew Arena added that, as public schools are one of the largest recipients of federal funding, the FBI will continue to aggressively investigate thos who steal funds originally designated for the children of Detroit.
