© Shutterstock A woman responsible for vetting childcare facilities for a state agency has been charged with taking more than $1.6 million from her employer over several years.
CHICAGO — A woman who worked for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services for years has been charged with stealing at least $1.6 million from the agency and spending that money at a casino or using it to cover more than $2 million in gambling losses, according to federal prosecutors.
Shauntelle Pridgeon was charged earlier this month after federal prosecutors said that she stole money from DCFS by either overcharging the agency for services she provided or through funds that were sent to daycare facilities that don’t exist, the U.S. Attorney for Northern Illinois claims in court documents.
Between 2016 and 2022, Pridgeon — who worked for DCFS to review and approve daycare facilities for children in DCFS supervision — took money from at least 14 different childcare providers, court documents said.
Those funds landed in a bank account on which Pridgeon and her husband were the sole signers and accepted money through either checks or electronic transfers, court documents indicate. According to the criminal complaint, Pridgeon was responsible for reviewing applications of childcare providers and approving those facilities for foster care services provided by the state.
The FBI began investigating Pridgeon in 2022 at the request of DCFS officials, the complaint said. Records showed that DCFS had actually overpaid some of the providers by thousands of dollars for either childcare that the facility did not provide or that were charged at rates “substantially higher” than DCFS is authorized to pay, the criminal complaint said.
The FBI learned that several of the childcare agencies approved by Pridgeon do not exist.
After the investigation was launched, Pridgeon was placed on administrative leave, the complaint said. The investigation showed that Pridgeon had received more than $1 million from DFCS for childcare provided to foster children and a look into the bank account controlled by the woman and her husband which was listed as M&S Enterprises had received $1.6 million in payments, the complaint states.
The complaint also states that Pridgeon accepted bribes from several of the childcare providers in exchange for favorable reviews for DCFS consideration.
The FBI probe also found that Pridgeon gambled “extensively” at a Chicago-area casino where records indicated that she had a net cash intake at the casino of about $3.9 million. Records showed that Pridgeon had a net cash withdrawal of $1.7 million, meaning she accrued gambling losses of $2.2 million, the complaint said.
The FBI investigation showed that Pridgeon paid her gambling-related expenses from the bank account controlled by her and her husband, the complaint states.
Pridgeon appeared in federal court earlier this month and an unsecured bond amount of $4,500 was set by a judge.
The article DCFS Worker Stole $1.6M From Agency, Used Money For Gambling: Feds appeared first on Chicago Patch.