ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Four employees of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and a vendor are charged with conspiring to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from the agency, authorities said Wednesday.
Two of the employees of the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, a St. Petersburg-based arm of the state wildlife commission, allegedly financed and furnished a house in Las Vegas with $347,000 stolen from agency, the Florida Department Law Enforcement said.
The suspects were allegedly involved in making fraudulent purchases, altering invoices, falsifying billing records and bid tampering, the FDLE said. They were arrested Wednesday and each charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering.
They are also accused of fraudulently buying tools and electrical equipment using state money and selling them on eBay.
The suspects charged were identified as Allen Nelson, 58, Melody Oakleaf-Nelson, 45, Luther Wilson, 60, Stacy Gilliam, 43, and David Dauble, 50.
"Our state has an obligation to investigate and prosecute criminal fraud that costs Florida taxpayers," state Attorney General Bill McCollum said in announcing the arrests.
The FDLE said two of the employees circumvented the formal bid process for outside vendors by splitting large projects into multiple jobs that would all be awarded to the same company.
In one instance, an employee arranged for payment of more than $128,000 to a dissolved Florida corporation and then split the proceeds with the owner, the FDLE said. No services were ever provided to the state.