11 People Indicted in Education Department Fraud Probe

By Mark Walsh

Washington

Four Department of Education employees and seven other individuals were indicted last week on federal charges stemming from a year-old probe into an alleged fraud and theft scheme that prosecutors say has cost taxpayers more than $1 million.

The 64-page indictment, handed up by a federal grand jury here on May 23, alleges that the four department employees conspired over several years with representatives of two telecommunications contractors to order computers, telephones, digital cameras, and other goods at government expense for their personal use or for delivery to family members.

Federal law-enforcement authorities announced the criminal investigation a year ago, when a telephone technician for Bell Atlantic Federal Systems assigned to the Education Department pleaded guilty to two felony charges for his role in the alleged conspiracy. ( "Federal Contractor Pleads Guilty To Theft, Conspiracy," ...