Community leader signatures were forged on grants to combat youth drug abuse in Rockland, then some of the money was misspent: prosecutors.
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SUFFERN, NY — The owner of a Rockland County-based consulting company has agreed to pay $500,000 for her role in a scheme whereby she and a former staffer forged signatures of community leaders on federal grant applications and then diverted for personal use federal funds intended to combat youth substance use, United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman announced Monday.
“Protecting taxpayer dollars from fraud and abuse is one of my top priorities,” Freedman, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, said in a news release. “Under the False Claims Act, Victoria Shaw paid far more in damages and penalties than she misappropriated, showing the important deterrent effect that this law can have in combatting fraud on federal programs.”
Prosecutors said the company, Wellcore, was located in Suffern. According to its website, it has a Post Office box in Blauvelt.
The owner of Wellcore, Victoria Shaw of Mahwah, New Jersey, admitted that the company applied for and received federal grants from the Drug-Free Communities Support Program on behalf of the South Orangetown Community Awareness of Substance Abuse Coalition starting in 2009 and the Suffern United Coalition Against Substance Abuse in 2015 that included forged signatures of community leaders.
Shaw admitted that she and a former member of the company used money from the grants for personal use.
She admitted using $15,000 from the South Orangetown group’s grants to pay a criminal-defense attorney to represent a family member in a personal matter. She also admitted that she spent thousands of dollars of DFC grant funds to pay for gym memberships for herself and for her immediate family members.
Shaw also provided evidence that a person who was previously affiliated with Wellcore misappropriated DFC grant funds, including by spending such funds to purchase home furnishings, to pay for their child’s day camp expenses, to pay for their child’s birthday party, to pay a contractor to do home-improvement work, to pay for personal travel, and to pay for their swim club membership.
Here’s how it worked:
In 2009, Wellcore applied to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for a DFC grant on behalf of the South Orangetown Community Awareness of Substance Abuse coalition. Wellcore forged signatures of sector representatives and addended them to SOCASA’s application, including signatures of a local business owner (using the wrong first name), a physician (using the wrong spelling of the last name), and a school principal. Wellcore then submitted or caused the application to be submitted to the government, with the forgeries, to provide the false impression that each purported signatory had agreed to serve as a sector representative for SOCASA. SOCASA received the DFC grant in 2009, which Wellcore administered for SOCASA. Wellcore renewed the DFC grant on SOCASA’s behalf in 2011, 2013, and 2015, prosecutors said.
In 2015, Wellcore applied to SAMHSA for a DFC grant on behalf of Suffern United Coalition Against Substance Abuse. Wellcore forged signatures of sector representatives and addended them to SUCASA’s application, including signatures of a law-enforcement official, a physician, and a school guidance counselor. Wellcore then submitted or caused the application to be submitted to the government, with the forgeries, to provide the false impression that each purported signatory had agreed to serve as a sector representative for SUCASA. SUCASA received the DFC grant in 2015, which Wellcore administered for SUCASA, prosecutors said.
Wellcore officials spent some of the grant money on meals at several restaurants in Albany, prosecutors said.
On its website, Wellcore Inc. calls itself “a consulting company that is a leader in writing and securing funding opportunities from a variety of sources to improve the quality of prevention, education, health, and wellness throughout our schools and communities.”
Among the partners in Rockland County that the company lists on its website:
- Clarkstown Central School District
- East Ramapo Central School District
- Nyack Public Schools
- Pearl River Central School District
- Pomona Community Hub
- Ramapo Central School District
- Rockland County Dept of Health
- Rockland County Dept of Mental Health
- Rockland County District Attorney’s Office
- Rockland County Sheriff’s Department
- South Orangetown Central School District
- Town of Orangetown
- Town supervisors
- Chiefs of police (countywide)
- Faith-based community
- Local colleges
- Local government
- Local hospitals
