The former executive director of the Hinesville Housing Authority and another individual have been indicted on multiple counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Margaret E. “Meg” Heap, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, announced the indictments Tuesday afternoon.
Melanie S. Thompson, 55, of Savannah, was indicted for Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, 19 counts of Wire Fraud, and two counts of False, Fictitious, or Fraudulent Claims. Toriono L. Byrd, 52, of Savannah, is charged in the indictment with Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud.
Criminal indictments contain only charges; defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
As described in the indictment, beginning as early as September 2019 and continuing through October 2023, while employed with the HHA, Thompson is alleged to have created or authorized false invoices, directed to Byrd’s private business, which authorized payments to Byrd for work that was never completed, or in amounts that far exceeded the actual value of the work. Upon receiving these payments, Byrd is alleged to have made return payments, or kickbacks, to Thompson for her personal use and benefit.
The indictment further alleges that through her role as executive director, Thompson directed multiple fraudulent payments to herself through the payroll system, directed payments of fraudulent bonuses to which she was not entitled, and that Thompson made false COVID-era loan applications to the federal government.
In all, the scheme is alleged to have resulted in a loss of more than $2.5 million for the HHA.
The charges carry statutory penalties upon conviction of up to 20 years in prison, along with substantial financial penalties and up to three years of supervised release upon completion of any prison term.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General, the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and is being prosecuted for the United States by Southern District of Georgia Assistant U.S. Attorneys Darron J. Hubbard and L. Alexander Hamner.