Insider Signal - 2022.4
This month features an NSA employee sharing secrets, school board funding fraud, inappropriate acts by a school board president, and electronic theft at Yale medical school
NSA Employee Shared Passed Secrets With Unauthorized Person
NSA staffer Mark Robert Unkenholz, 60, of Hanover, Maryland, has been indicted on charges of willful transmission and retention of National Defense Information. He is charged with sending Secret and Top Secret materials to a woman whose clearance had elapsed.
Analysis Highlights
National security information is classified as Top Secret, Secret, or Confidential.
Only employees with the requisite clearance can access those respective materials
Classified information can only be stored in an approved facility and container
The indictment alleges that using his private email account, Unkenholz passed Secret and Top Secret information on 13 occasions over roughly 28 months
Unkenholz allegedly sent the materials to the email address of a business operated by a woman who held Top Secret clearance that had expired
The email accounts are not considered authorized storage locations for classified National Defense Information
Sources & Additional Information
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Virtual School Administrator Duped Alabama Board of Ed for Funding
A federal jury convicted William Richard (“Rick”) Carter, Jr., 46 an administrator with the Athens, Alabama, school district of defrauding the Alabama State Department of Education. Carter was found guilty of conspiring with other school officers to pad the rolls of the city’s public schools so that it would qualify for additional state funding. They then used the extra funding to enrich themselves. Co-conspirators included former Athens superintendent Dr. William L. (“Trey”) Holiday, III, age 57; David Webb Tutt, age 62; Gregory (“Greg”) Earl Corkren, age 57; and former Limestone County School District Superintendent Thomas Michael Sisk, age 56.
Analysis Highlights
Carter took names of students attending area private schools and fraudulently enrolled them in virtual public schools
Carter got the names of private school students from the private schools themselves
In return for providing student names and identifying information, Carter and his co-conspirators offered the private schools computers, payments, and access to online curricula
He reported those names to the state department of education to receive enhanced funding
Students whose names were falsely reported testified that they had no connection with the public schools in which they were enrolled
Sources & Additional Information
School Board President Sought Tryst With 11-Year-Old
John Gray, 60, president of the Goshen, Ohio, school board, has resigned his position after an online video appeared depicting him attempting to meet an 11-year-old girl with whom he was exchanging messages on the Internet. He had traveled two hours from Cincinnati to Indiana to meet with the girl.
Analysis Highlights
Before he could reach the girl, Gray was stopped at a Dollar General store by three members of a volunteer group that targets child predators
One of the volunteers videotaped the apprehension and questioning
The 90-plus-minute video was posted to Facebook
Gray admits that he talked to the girl on the Kik messaging app
Gray claimed that the girl propositioned him for sex, but that he refused and was at the store to buy her Gatorade, gummy bears, and snacks, and to give her help and advice
But through the course of the video, he admitted that he wanted to cuddle with her, get her down to her bra and panties, give her a massage, and perform sexual acts on her
Sources & Additional Information
Yale Med School Director Stole $40 Million in Electronics
Jamie Petrone-Codrington 42, of Lithia Springs, Georgia, pleaded guilty in federal court to fraud and tax offenses related to her theft of a staggering $40 million in computer and electronic hardware from the Yale University School of Medicine. Petrone-Codrington conducted the operation for as much as ten years, most recently as the Director of Finance and Administration for the medical school’s Department of Emergency Medicine
Analysis Highlights
As part of her responsibilities, Petrone-Codrington was authorized to make certain purchases for her department provided the cost didn’t reach $10,000
Petrone-Codrington ordered, or directed subordinates to order, millions of dollars of electronic hardware from Yale vendors using Yale Med funds, arranging to sell the products to an out-of-state business, where she served as a principal
Petrone-Codrington would claim that her department needed the equipment, such as Apple iPads and Microsoft Surfaces, to help conduct medical studies
With the proceeds of these sales, Petrone-Codrington purchased expensive cars, including two Mercedes, two Cadillacs, a Range Rover, and a Dodge Charger, as well as travel
She also purchased properties in Connecticut and Georgia
Sources & Additional Information
https://nypost.com/2022/03/31/ex-yale-employee-used-40m-in-stolen-equipment-to-fund-lifestyle/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/04/01/yale-jamie-petrone-fraud-electronics/
https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/31/business/yale-jamie-petrone-codrington/index.html
https://www.ethicalinvestigator.com/the-yale-med-school-fraud-where-were-the-auditors
More Insider Threat Stories - April 2022
Phoenix Suns Manager Illegally Sold Tickets
Jeffrey Marcussen, a former Phoenix Suns ticket manager, pleaded guilty to selling more than 2,800 of the team’s tickets through a third-party vendor, StubHub, from 2017 to 2019. StubHub contacted the NBA when it discovered five different Stub linked to Marcussen, prompting an internal audit by the Suns. Marcussen agreed to pay $458,218 to the team in restitution.
Synagogue Employee Indicted for Larceny
Crystal Lucero, 39, a former bookkeeper/administrator at Congregation Albert synagogue in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been indicted on charges of felony larceny. She is accused of stealing more than $700,000 in cash, checks, and credit card purchases over a roughly three-year period.
Insurance Company Employee Had Client Pay Premiums to Her
Christal Burke, a former employee of British Caribbean Insurance Company in Jamaica, has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $400,000. Burke had been accepting payments of a customer’s insurance premiums and keeping them for herself. Her scheme fell apart when the customer made a claim on one of his motorcycles and showed documentation that he had paid his premiums, although the company had terminated his policy for nonpayment.
Niagara Falls Theater Executives Find Themselves Over a Barrel
John Hutchins and Roberto Soliman, respectively the owner and CFO of Rapids Theatre in Niagara Falls, New York, have been charged with multiple counts related to fraudulently obtaining $749,500 in Covid pandemic loans. The indictment accuses the men of conspiring to fraudulently obtain Covid-19 pandemic loans through the U.S. Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program and government-backed Payroll Protection Program loans from banks. They allegedly used the funds to buy homes, a car, and pay condo fees.
Transit Staffer Guns Down Customer During Altercation
An unidentified worker for the Chicago Transit Authority has been arrested for shooting a rider at the 95th Street Red Line stop. Video shows the customer yelling at the employee, a customer assistant, then pushing him to the ground. The employee allegedly followed his assailant down the stairs and shot him three times.
Border Officer Allowed Contraband Into the U.S.
Simon Medina III, 41, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle goods into the United States from Mexico. On about 20 occasions between May 25 and August 6, 2020, he let people enter the United States through the Laredo, Texas, border crossing with contraband in their vehicle. Although he wasn’t assigned to entry lanes, he would open a lane and allow his colleagues to pass through uninspected.
Town Clerk Is Knee Deep In It After Raiding Sewage Funds
Hickory Flat, Mississippi Town Clerk Stephanie Churchill has been indicted on charges of stealing money from the town’s water and sewage department. She is charged with pocketing $104,256.92 from paid water and sewage bills that were supposed to be deposited in a town bank account.
Guinea Leaders Jailed On Corruption Charges
Amadou Damaro Camara, former president of the Guinea National Assembly, and Loucény Camara, former president of the Independent National Electoral Commission (Céni) and former Minister of Hotels and Tourism, have been charged with misappropriation of public funds, illicit enrichment, money laundering, and corruption. Both belong to the Rassemblement du Peuple de Guinée (RPG), the party that was in power from late 2010 until its overthrow in 2021. At least nine former government officials have been indicted and imprisoned on charges of fraud or corruption in the West African country.
European Union Accuses Marine Le Pen Of Embezzlement
The European Union’s anti-fraud body has accused far-right French politician Marine Le Pen and several of her party colleagues of embezzling approximately €620,000 while serving in the European parliament. The report accuses Le Pen of diverting almost €137,000 of EU funds during her time as a parliamentarian between 2004 and 2017. In one incident, Le Pen is alleged to have made a claim of €5,000 for hotel rooms for 13 far-right party members to take part in a conference titled European Regions and the Financial Crisis. However, one participant allegedly told the European parliament that the meeting was used to discuss the party presidency.
Auto Teacher Fired for Commenting on Student’s Body
Albuquerque Public Schools fired West Mesa High automotive teacher Scott McLeod for sexually harassing a student. Documents released by the state Public Education Department indicate that he was accused of sexually harassing an unidentified 17-year-old student he referred to as his granddaughter. Specifically, in February 2021 he was recorded saying, "You're really attractive ... I shouldn't (even) say this ... but your senior picture shows your boob, like when they had you turn sideways, you can see your boobs."
Source: https://www.abqjournal.com/2489303/aps-board-fires-teacher-accused-of-sexual-harassment.html