WATERFORD, Mich. – A former Oak Park city employee is accused of filing fraudulent invoices that listed her husband as a vendor-payee.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office, Stephanie Sumner was the director of elections for the city from 2012 through 2015. Her job included submitting invoices for election-related services.
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Sumner allegedly listed her husband, Michael Sumner, as a vendor-payee. The Waterford couple had checks from Oak Park worth more than $430,000 deposited into a joint account from January 2013 to February 2015, officials said. Just before the scheme, in September 2012, the couple filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Stephanie Sumner failed to report the embezzled funds on 2013, 2014 and 2015 federal tax returns when she knew she should have included them.
The couple is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, fraudulent withholdings of records and falsification of records in bankruptcy. Stephanie Sumner is also charged with aiding and assisting the filing of false tax returns.