Woman pleads guilty to DSS scam

A former area high school basketball coach arrested last month on allegations she assisted former Department of Social Services Finance Director Paul Timothy Moore embezzle millions of dollars from DSS entered a guilty plea in federal court this week.

Court documents filed Wednesday show 41-year old Gwendolyn Robinson, of Union Church Lane, has agreed to help prosecutors with the case in exchange for a sentence recommendation.

She faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

The former girls junior varsity basketball coach and assistant varsity basketball coach at Aiken High School along with eight others was arrested last month and charged with cashing checks written by former Department of Social Services finance director Paul Timothy Moore, 61, of Columbia.

Robinson is no longer associated with the school district.

Moore, who is the brother of former state Sen. Tommy Moore, has been charged as the ringleader of a scheme to embezzle $5.5 million of the department's money over the span of four years. Authorities say one defendant gave Moore a list of people who might be willing to participate. Nine have thus far been charged in a federal complaint with theft of federal program funds, mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy.

During an interview with state agents in January, Moore reportedly confessed to a number of the allegations. He said he used the money for his alcohol addiction, gambling debt and at adult dance clubs.

Prosecutors have named Jonathon Moses, 42, of Columbia, as Moore's co-conspirator.

Both men allegedly enlisted several state residents to cash approximately 761 DSS checks between May 2004 and October 2008 and then divvied up the money as it came in.

Moses reportedly called on Robinson to recruited others into the scheme, prosecutors said.

The fraudulent check scam unraveled in early October 2008, when one of the nine accused contacted U.S. Secret Service agents with information about the embezzlement he said had been going on in Columbia for several years.

On Nov. 24, 2008, Moore and his defense counsel met with state agents.

Moore said he resigned from his position as finance director after Moses told him he was the target of a federal investigation and explained how he was able to approve checks without sounding any alarms.

The primary source of the money, he told prosecutors, was South Carolina Health and Human Services.

Moore told agents he approached Moses in 2004 and told him that there were "grants" available to the "needy." He said if Moses gave him names and address, he would see to it they received the "grants." Moore admitted to having sole approval over the allocation of funds and the checks would range from $5,000 to $8,000, according to the federal compliant.

Moore gave Moses the checks to be distributed to selected individuals. He said they should cash them and take anywhere from $1,500 to $2,000 of themselves.

During the interview, Moore said he wrote about 200 checks over four years time, amounting to about$ 1.3 million. Prosecutors said the total was about $5.5 million.

State agents also interviewed the other suspects implicated in the scam.

Robinson spoke with investigators on Jan. 9.

Prosecutors said she told agents she was approached by Johnson in 2004 about receiving a "grant."

The first check she received to cash and divvy up totaled $8,214. She said it was mailed directly to her home. Two years later, she received a $7,000 check and allegedly confessed to cashing both checks and giving the money back to Johnson who, in turn, gave it to Moses.

Robinson was then pulled deeper into the scam.

She said she was asked to find others who would like to receive "grants" from the state.

She said she provided at least five names and address and received $200 cash for each name, according to the criminal complaint.

In April, she met with Moses and began bypassing Johnson and submitted names directly to Moses, she told investigators.

During 2008, she gave him 10 names. She later received $5,000 cash for names and $1,000 cash to give to the check casher, the complaint stated.

A phone message left for Robinson at her Aiken home was not returned.

Contact Karen Daily at kdaily@aikenstandard.com.