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They followed the money: Burke County authorities make record racketeering bust

They followed the money: Burke County authorities make record racketeering bust

Yahooa day ago
A husband and wife chiseled a Waynesboro auto-parts manufacturer out of more than $620,000 over four years, Burke County investigators said Tuesday afternoon.
Susan Jennifer Perez Godbee Wimberly and Michael Wimberly each were charged with racketeering for their "connection with a complex, years-long embezzlement scheme," according to the Burke County Sheriff's Office.
The FBI aided the investigation. Further federal charges are expected, the sheriff's office said.
What we know: Did Georgia Power contractors steal money from Fort Gordon barracks?
Mrs. Wimberly worked at CMS, an Italy-based company whose plant off Burke Veterans Parkway in Waynesboro produces automotive components by forming flat sheets of metal into three-dimensional shapes.
"Through an exhaustive process involving dozens of subpoenas, search warrants and administrative requests," sheriff's Lt. Heather Sims led an investigation that "uncovered a sophisticated financial scheme in which the stolen funds were used to fraudulently acquire vehicles, farming equipment and even a local restaurant," the sheriff's office noted in prepared remarks.
The charges are the first issued by the Burke County Sheriff's Office under Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO. The financial loss in the case also was a record amount handled by the sheriff's office, it said.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Burke County RICO bust nets husband, wife over missing $620,000
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