Snoqualmie Washington Man Indicted for Extensive Benefits Fraud Scheme

 

A federal grand jury has indicted a former federal employee for multiple counts of wire fraud and mail fraud, and making false statements in connection with an extensive scheme to fraudulently obtain federal and state benefits, announced Acting United States Attorney Annette L. Hayes.  DARRYL LEE WRIGHT, 46, of Snoqualmie, Washington, will appear today in U. S. District Court in Tacoma at 2:30 p.m.  His sister KAREN M. BEVENS, 43, of Duvall, Washington, who is charged in one of the counts, will appear for arraignment next week.  The indictment was returned following an investigation that revealed that WRIGHT was making false and conflicting claims to various agencies in an effort to fraudulently obtain benefits.  The charged criminal conduct allegedly occurred from 2005 to the present, during which WRIGHT is alleged to have fraudulently received more than $250,000 in benefits.

According to the indictment, WRIGHT made a variety of false claims in his scheme to defraud the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Social Security Administration, and the Washington State Department of Employment Security.  False statements also were made to the Department of Commerce, the Office of Personnel Management, the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services and the U.S. Army.   

The nine count indictment charges schemes to commit both wire fraud and mail fraud, making false statements to the Army, and making a false statement to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case was investigated by multiple agencies led by the Social Security Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG).  The Office of Inspector General of these agencies were involved in the investigation: Veterans Affairs (VA-OIG), Department of Commerce (DOC-OIG), Office of Personnel Management (OPM-OIG), and General Services Administration (GSA-OIG).  Also contributing to the investigation is the FBI, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division, the Washington National Guard, the Washington Employment Security Department and the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Reese Jennings.