Former Maryland National Guard Employee at Aberdeen Proving Ground Pleads Guilty to Fraud Scheme with Losses of More Than $107,000

BALTIMORE—Lynn Carol Williams, age 56, of Middle River, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to wire fraud in connection with a scheme to misuse the corporate purchasing card and cause losses of more than $107,000 to the Freestate Challenge Academy, a Maryland National Guard program located at Aberdeen Proving Ground.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Special Agent in Charge Robert Craig of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service-Mid-Atlantic Field Office; and Chief Chip Honan of the Aberdeen Proving Ground Police Department.

According to her plea agreement, from October 2007 through February 2011, Williams worked as an administrative aide at Freestate Challenge Academy, a Maryland National Guard youth training program located at Aberdeen Proving Ground. Williams was authorized to use the Academy’s corporate credit card to make purchases for the Academy and was required to prepare a monthly expense report, which included the purchasing card billing statement, original receipts, copies of the approved requisition forms, and a log of activity on the purchasing card. Once her supervisor approved the expense report, it was forwarded to the State of Maryland Military Department, which paid the account balance on the corporate purchasing card.

Williams admitted that from February 2008 through October 2010, she used the corporate credit card to buy gift cards and items over the Internet for her personal use. For example, on May 18, 2010, Williams paid for two airline tickets for her and a friend to travel to Los Angeles, California, with six gift cards purchased with the corporate credit card. To conceal her fraud, Williams prepared false logs of the card activity and fictitious receipts, purportedly for office supplies, snacks for program participants, and other legitimate items purchased from local stores.

Williams faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett scheduled sentencing for May 6, 2013, at 3:00 p.m.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the FBI, Defense Criminal Investigative Service and Aberdeen Proving Ground Police for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Joyce K. McDonald, who is prosecuting the case.