A trio of Texans who set up a nonprofit called "Helping Others in Need" working out of a Sharpsburg office admitted this week in federal court in Pittsburgh that they were really just helping themselves to millions in taxpayer money in a scheme to defraud federal low-income meal programs.
Tanisha Jackson, 49, and her daughter Paige Jackson, 30, pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges related to the thefts while Charles Simpson, 44, pleaded Thursday.
Paige Jackson and Simpson live in suburban Dallas. Tanisha Jackson had also been living in Dallas during the scheme, although her primary residence is in Memphis, Tenn.
All are now federal felons.
The indictment against them, brought in Pittsburgh last year, accused them of stealing some $4 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture money.
The three set up a nonprofit in Texas to distribute meals in Pennsylvania using government funds but didn't deliver meals and instead used the money to buy an entire fleet of fancy cars along with clothes and vacation packages.
A federal grand jury last year charged them with mail and wire fraud conspiracy and money-laundering after an investigation by the USDA, the FBI and the criminal investigation division of the IRS.
The three established Helping Others in Need in Texas and enrolled it as a sponsor in two USDA-funded meal programs for poor children — the Child and Adult Care Feeding Program and the Summer Food Service Program.
The first program pays for after-school meals during the school year and the second during the summer. In Pennsylvania, the Department of Education administers both.
The Jacksons and Simpson had been barred from similar programs in Texas and Arkansas for not delivering meals, submitting false paperwork and other malfeasance.
So they targeted Pennsylvania and used a different name.
Paige came to Pittsburgh to set up day-to-day operations out of a building in Sharpsburg. Her mom and Simpson stayed in Dallas.
The group submitted false enrollment data for HOIN to the state in connection with the two meal programs between 2015 and 2019. Tanisha Jackson and Simpson used aliases to conceal the fact that other states had barred them.
They then submitted bogus claims for reimbursement. They either inflated the number of meals served or didn't serve anything. In some cases they submitted claims for meals served on days when the feeding site wasn't even open.
To hide what they were doing, the trio also submitted fake documents to the state in connection with periodic program reviews. Sometimes, too, Tanisha pretended she was her daughter in communicating with the Department of Education.
The IRS determined that Simpson and Tanisha used the stolen money on shopping sprees, air travel, hotels and the purchase of at least nine luxury vehicles: A Bentley, two Land Rovers, two Maseratis, two Mercedes, a Hummer and a Porsche.
Agents said the three also used HOIN bank accounts as their own ATM, regularly withdrawing cash in amounts exceeding $10,000 at a time.
Simpson had also been charged with lying to agents about the scheme. He didn't plead to that count, but it can still be used against him at sentencing.
As part of their plea deals, Simpson and Tanisha Jackson have agreed to pay $1.5 million in restitution to the USDA, the U.S. attorney's office said. Paige Jackson agreed to pay $190,000.
Simpson and Tanisha Jackson have also agreed to forfeit $427,000.
All will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab, although no dates were set.
First Published: May 19, 2022, 6:48 p.m.