Case 8:13-cv-01601-MSS-TBM Document 1 Filed 06/19/13 Page 13 of 20 PageID 13
improperly accessed funds in the individual beneficiaries' private accounts and used these funds to pay for HARC's general operating expenses. The complaint further alleged that HARC's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer were fraudulently receiving remuneration in the amount of $1,800 per month in funds drawn from HARC's general operating funds account. In November of 2011, this complaint was referred to the Florida Department of Financial Services for review of HARC's business practices. 20.
In February 2013, the DFS Office of Fiscal Integrity completed an
investigation into HARC's billing practices as they related to state payments for the work-training of disabled adults and work performed by disabled adults as part of a program called Home-Link. Payments for the work and work-training were billed to the Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities. This investigation ended in a civil settlement in which HARC agreed to pay the state $310,000 in civil damages and investigative expenses. 21.
Also in February 2013, OIG and DFS began a joint criminal investigation
into agents of HARC's alleged theft of Social Security benefits from its disabled adult clients. Witness Statements 22.
Tiffany Thomas was the AmeriCorps Director at HARC from 2004 to 2006.
In May 2012, Thomas told investigators about her HARC employment. Among other responsibilities, the AmeriCorps Director oversaw the Home-Link program. Thomas said that, in December 2008, Frank Pannullo, HARC's then Chief Financial Officer, demanded that she sign false invoices for Home-Link services that were not rendered.
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