Former Berkeley County School District chief financial officer Brantley Thomas has been indicted on 35 federal and state charges in connection with an embezzlement scheme involving hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds.

District officials announced last week in a press release that they had been informed by the United States Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that Thomas is charged with several felonies related to the corruption case. Additionally, the South Carolina State Grand Jury handed down 15 indictments, in which Thomas is accused of converting more than $458,000 in public funds for personal use in transactions that date back as far as September 11, 2001.

“Records indicate that Thomas was indicted for embezzling funds from our children since at least September 11, 2001, while all eyes were focused on the atrocities in New York,” stated Berkeley County School District spokesperson Katie Orvin, in an email accompanied by a press release about the charges.

The State’s case

The first indictment by the State Grand Jury was issued on Oct.17, followed by a separate indictment on Nov. 15. Both were unsealed on Dec. 6. Thomas first began working for the district in 1993. He was terminated from his post as chief financial officer (CFO) in February of 2017 after an investigation into the case was launched. While CFO, he was tasked with managing more than $400 million in district expenditures.

At the state level, he faces 14 counts for embezzlement and one for forgery. On 10 occasions, Thomas is accused of depositing district dollars into his personal credit card account or personal checking account, with varying totals ranging from $3,771.25 in September of 2005 to $36,934.50 in December of 2009. According to a press release on the charges issued by the office of State Attorney General Alan Wilson, Thomas “converted public school funds to his personal use, by causing BCSD to disperse funds which supposedly were to pay legitimate BCSD expenses.”

The forgery charge alleges Thomas “forged an invoice so that it appeared to be from a legitimate BCSD vendor but with the payment address altered to be the servicer of Thomas’s personal credit card,” continued the release.

The indictments also state that an $89,900 deposit of district funds wired into an account belonging to Thomas and another person in 2004 is believed to have taken place when they “were actively involved in the process of purchasing a lot and building a house in the Tanner Hall neighborhood of Hanahan.”

The largest transaction referenced in the indictments involved a total of $98,349, in which Thomas is accused of creating three checks ($32,783 each) for personal use. According to the State Attorney General’s Office, Thomas personally visited a local bank branch and executed a counter withdrawal on a BCSD account “supposedly to pay an ‘Additional Architect Fee’ for Cane Bay Middle School” and instead used the funds to pay down his personal credit card.

The Berkeley County School Board first took action against Thomas last February, when they learned of his possible misconduct involving some $382,000 in district funds.

“...We have concerns that there may be further amounts misappropriated and are committed to getting to the bottom (of this) to discover any and all wrongdoing,” stated BCSD Board Vice Chair Mac McQuillin on Feb.14.

Federal charges

Federal indictments filed against Thomas in U.S. District Court in Charleston on Dec. 7 include fraud and embezzlement from a federally funded program, money laundering, and “honest services” wire fraud – bringing the total amount of money he is accused of mishandling to over $800,000.

The transactions mentioned in the federal filing took place between 2010 and 2016, based on court documents. According to the indictments, investigators believe Thomas used a number of methods to carry out his scheme, including overpaying district vendors and then depositing the reimbursement money into his personal account for expenses such as paying off car loans, membership at a private club and foreign travel.

“This board has been committed to cooperating with law enforcement to discover all wrongdoing and recover all monies stolen by Brantley Thomas,” stated BCSD Board Chair Sally Wofford, in a district press release issued last week. “We are deeply disheartened that a long-time employee took advantage of his position to defraud taxpayers and our children for decades.”

Wofford thanked the FBI for bringing forward the original discovery to the district and the State Grand Jury’s office for their “hard work” on the case.

“We will continue to cooperate with law enforcement going forward,” she continued.

“I am really impressed with this school board specifically because they took bold aggressive steps to right a terrible wrong and they are really trying to make things right for the children of Berkeley County and the taxpayers of Berkeley County,” added Berkeley County Schools Superintendent Dr. Eddie Ingram. “And moving forward we will not only recover, but we will excel from such an unfortunate incident as this.”

“Although today’s announcement is a substantial vindication for this district, there are still further necessary steps we will take to vindicate past decisions and actions that were not taken in the best interest of the District,” stated Attorney Josh Whitley, who is serving as general counsel for BCSD. “We will continue to actively work with law enforcement on this ongoing criminal investigation.”

Response from Thomas’s attorney

Attorney Matthew R. Hubbell of K&L Gates, who is representing Thomas, said his client has accepted responsibility by “paying restitution and cooperating with authorities even before any charges were filed.” Thomas now has agreed to waive federal grand jury proceedings and plead guilty to the charges filed last week,” stated Hubbell.

“He deeply regrets the conduct described in the Information,” added Hubbell. “And he apologizes to the Berkeley County School Board and the community.”

According to Hubbell, in a plea agreement Thomas “voluntarily” deposited $247,251.61 with the Federal Court in March 2017 to pay restitution. Additionally, Thomas returned $86,025,67 on Dec. 4, noted Hubbell.

“When those funds are combined with approximately $135,000 previously seized from his bank account, the total amount provided for restitution to date is $468,277.28,” he continued.

Thomas will respond to the indictments brought by the State of South Carolina “in due course as those legal proceedings unfold,” stated Hubbell. “He has no further comment at this time, pending his continued cooperation as provided in the plea agreement.”