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Press Release

Second Superseding Indictment Returned Against Irvin Mayfield and Ronald Markham for Defrauding New Orleans Public Library Foundation

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Louisiana

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – IRVIN MAYFIELD, age 40, and RONALD MARKHAM, age 39, both residents of New Orleans, Louisiana, were charged by a federal grand jury in a 24-count second superseding indictment for conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, and false statements announced the United States Attorney’s Office.

In addition to the allegations contained in the previous superseding indictment, the second superseding indictment provides the following new details about the conspiracy charged in Count 1:

  • On about October 26, 2012, MAYFIELD contacted a staff member of a local church with whom he was friends, and asked for the church to hold approximately $70,000 of the New Orleans Public Library Foundation (NOPLF) money in a church bank account, telling the staff member that he was trying to avoid moving the funds to an organization of which he was a board member.
     
  • On about October 2, 2013, MAYFIELD and MARKHAM falsely informed and caused NOPLF auditors to be falsely informed that money transferred to the Youth Rescue Initiative (YRI) was for book drives.
     
  • After being notified of the issuance of grand jury subpoenas to NOPLF auditors and an investment account manager, MARKHAM and MAYFIELD caused NOPLF employee “A” to email 2011 through 2013 NOPLF board minutes to MARKHAM on about November 19, 2013.
     
  • On about November 24, 2013, MAYFIELD and MARKHAM told NOPLF employee “A” to meet them at MAYFIELD’s home where they instructed employee “A” to change line items and dollar amounts on NOPLF board minutes.
     
  • On about November 25, 2013, MAYFIELD and MARKHAM emailed and caused to be emailed the fraudulently edited board minutes, now labelled the “official board minutes,” to unwitting legal counsel for NOPLF.
     
  • On about November 25, 2013, MAYFIELD and MARKHAM sent and caused to be sent a materially false and misleading email to NOPLF board members attaching the fraudulently altered NOPLF board minutes and false claimed the records justified the transfer of money from NOPLF to the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO).
     
  • On about December 26, 2013, MAYFIELD and MARKHAM discouraged the Executive Director of the New Orleans Public Library from asking for its annual $100,000 in support from NOPLF, claiming that there were not nearly as many resources as thought, that if the Library continued to ask for such support, the resources would soon be depleted, and that the Library’s continued reliance on the NOPLF for support, even for small dollar amounts, would depend on the Library and the NOPLF jointly raising significant funds on an annual basis.
     
  • On about January 14, 2014, MARKHAM falsely informed NOPLF board members, employees of NOPLF and NOPLF legal counsel that NOPLF did not fund NOJO salaries for MAYFIELD and MARKHAM and that NOJO was not dependent on NOPLF funding.

Furthermore, the second superseding indictment adds Count 24 (false statements) which alleges that MARKHAM lied to the FBI when he stated that he did not know who altered the NOPLF board minutes and did not know how the board minutes were changed, when in truth and in fact, as he then well knew, he had personally participated in fraudulently altering the board minutes, as detailed above.

If convicted, the defendants face five years of imprisonment as to Count 1, 20 years of imprisonment as to Counts 2 through 8, ten years of imprisonment as to Counts 9 through 22, and 20 years imprisonment as to Count 23. As to Count 24, MARKHAM faces 5 years of imprisonment. All counts also carry a possible $250,000 fine.  

The United States Attorney’s Office reiterated that the second superseding indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendants must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.  

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New Orleans Inspector General’s Office and is being prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorneys G. Dall Kammer, Supervisor of the General Crimes Unit, Brandon Long, and Theodore Carter.

 

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Updated December 6, 2018

Topic
Financial Fraud