Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons and MLGW President and CEO Jerry Collins announced Friday that a former Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division employee has been indicted by the state grand jury for Shelby County for allegedly devising a scheme that defrauded the public utility out of tens of thousands of dollars.
The Grand Jury indicted Terrica G. Brown, 26, of Memphis, for two counts of computer fraud over $10,000, a class C felony, and theft of services over $10,000, also a class C felony.
According to the indictment, Brown allegedly called the computerized payment system for MLGW, then authorized and made valid payments on various customers’ accounts using either nonexistent bank accounts or bank accounts in which the holders did not authorize the transactions. Brown allegedly made these payments for customers who paid her a fee. The third count of the indictment alleges that Brown obtained more than $10,000 in MLGW services by fraud. The indictment indicates that the alleged crimes occurred between January 1 and April 1, 2008.
The criminal indictment is the result of an investigation by the MLGW Revenue Protection department and was coordinated with the D.A.’s White Collar Crime Prosecution Unit.
“Not only is MLGW the victim of this alleged crime, but all of its customers suffer when individuals are suspected of defrauding the public utility. We appreciate the work MLGW investigators put into this case and we will do what we can under law to hold the defendant accountable,” District Attorney Gibbons declared.
“MLGW takes very seriously any scheme that could potentially be detrimental to our customers or the utility. We will work with law enforcement to punish any persons who try to use the utility’s good name to defraud our customers,” said MLGW President and CEO Jerry Collins.
“We want to emphasize that MLGW employees will only direct customers to agencies that offer utility assistance. MLGW does not offer utility assistance programs, nor will MLGW representatives contact customers offering utility assistance,” Collins added.
Brown was taken into custody on May 15 and has been released from the Shelby County Jail on $10,000 bond. An arraignment date has not been set. If convicted, Brown faces three to six years in prison for each count.
Assistant District Attorneys William Bright and Steve Crossnoe are prosecuting this case. Both assistants are assigned to the D.A.’s White Collar Crime Prosecution Unit, which is responsible for prosecution of public corruption; frauds and thefts from governmental agencies, non-profit organizations and businesses; and money laundering cases. |