Gladys and Anthony Waits seemed to be living successful lives. He was a business owner; she worked for the state of Arkansas. They lived in a large, renovated home and drove high-end cars.

But the Waits’ lifestyle was a fraudulent one of the worst kind: They lined their pockets with money earmarked for feeding needy children through Gladys Waits’ job at the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS), the agency that administers U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grants to feed children in low-income communities. Along with their co-conspirators, they stole $11 million that was meant to feed children from low-income families.

“These investigations are so important because they hit at the heart of what these programs stand for—taking care of children,” said Special Agent Jacob Stokes, who helped investigate the case out of the FBI’s Little Rock Division. “These people are taking advantage of that, and people that are truly hurt by it are the children. Money was taken away from a program that could have helped children in need.”