Latest News
News Stories
CDC staffer pads travel expense account, charged with theft of government funds
CDC staffer pleads guilty to fraudulent claims
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
May 19, 2006
http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/dekalb/stories/0519metcdc.html
By BILL TORPY
A CDC director pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to a charge of theft of government funds for padding her travel expense accounts by an estimated $7,500.
Donna Stroup, 54, was director of the Coordinating Center for Health Promotion for the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Prosecutors say Stroup, over a three-year period, submitted dozens of fraudulent claims and altered receipts for expenses not covered by the agency. Often, she wrote off personal expenses as FedEx or copying charges.
One such expense for $106.22 was described as Powerpoint slides, when it was a purchase at Filene's Basement department store.
"It was repeated criminal acts, albeit small, by a high-ranking government official, so we had to charge her," said U.S. Attorney David Nahmias.
In 2004, Stroup was one of the authors of a widely reported study that said obesity was about to overtake smoking as the nation's leading cause of death. The CDC later had to issue a rare correction of the study, saying the numbers were overstated, blaming the error on computer software.
CDC spokesman Tom Skinner would say only that Stroup has submitted her resignation. She will be sentenced in July.
Senator Tom Coburn's activity on the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security
340 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-2254 Fax: 202-228-3796
|
