Legal Aid ex-officer charged in scheme
A former financial officer for the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau was charged Wednesday in a years-long scheme to steal more than $1 million from the nonprofit organization, Maryland federal officials said.
Benjamin Louis King, 58, of Gwynn Oak, who worked as chief of finance for the organization from 1978 to January 2008, was charged in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.
Prosecutors allege that in 1997 King hatched a plan with another man who opened a business that sold paper, envelopes and other supplies to the legal aid bureau. The pair inflated invoices, then stole the excess money, according to court records.
The men skimmed more than $1.1 million between 2004 and 2007, prosecutors said. The store owner, Wendell Jackson, 59, of Westminster, also was charged.
The bureau, which is funded through federal grants and private donations, provides legal services to people around the state who can not afford to hire attorneys in civil matters.
— Maria Glod
By
Erica Johnston
| May 26, 2010; 7:08 PM ET
Categories:
Crime and Public Safety, DC, Maryland
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Posted by: nan_lynn | May 27, 2010 1:53 AM | Report abuse
and they skimmed that million dollars one paper clip at a time.
Posted by: MarilynManson | May 27, 2010 12:28 PM | Report abuse
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People who work for entities like Legal Aid are generally considered to be altruistic and unselfish. This guy sure didn't fit the mold. Sheesh!