The previous chief working officer of Jackson Well being Basis has admitted to stealing hundreds of thousands of {dollars} from the nonprofit by means of false invoices, kickbacks, and private luxurious purchases, federal prosecutors introduced Monday.
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In line with court docket paperwork, from 2014 by means of 2024, Charmaine Gatlin, 52, served as COO of the Basis, which is the fundraising arm of Jackson Well being System. Throughout her tenure, Gatlin drew a base wage starting from $185,000 and $290,000. Regardless of her compensation, Gatlin admitted that she defrauded the Basis out of not less than $4.3 million by directing funds to herself, her family, or unrelated entities, reasonably than to the Basis or Jackson Well being System.
For instance, Gatlin accepted roughly $2 million in invoices from a Georgia-based audiovisual firm for providers that have been by no means offered. In return, the seller paid Gatlin $1 million in kickbacks, which she utilized in half to pay her private bank card invoice. Gatlin coached the seller on methods to falsify invoices, together with billing for audiovisual providers that had already been donated to the Basis. The seller, Yergan Jones, pleaded responsible to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in reference to the scheme.
Gatlin additionally directed a merchandise vendor to buy luxurious gadgets for her from Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Apple in trade for conserving the Basis’s enterprise. Gatlin additional misused restricted donations, resembling approving $55,101 in Basis funds to buy 10,000 “first assist kits” falsely labeled as “trauma burn giveaways” from the identical vendor.
In one other occasion, Gatlin submitted a false bill to cowl the acquisition of a rose gold-colored golf cart, which she had delivered to her Weston dwelling in September 2023.
Gatlin is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 25 earlier than U.S. District Choose Beth Bloom. She faces as much as 20 years in federal jail.
The FBI Miami Discipline Workplace led the investigation with help from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Workplace. Assistant U.S. Legal professional Elizabeth Younger is prosecuting the case, and Assistant U.S. Legal professional G. Raemy Charest-Turken is dealing with asset forfeiture.
