Ex-Muscogee Superior Court worker stole over $467,000 from office in fraud scheme, feds say
A former supervisor for the Muscogee Superior Court Clerk’s office has been indicted for pilfering more than $467,000 from government accounts though stolen checks he wrote to accomplices who cashed them at Columbus banks.
The 71-count indictment names seven other codefendants who allegedly participated in the year-long scheme, but they were not government workers, it says.
Willie Demps, who worked more than 30 years for the clerk’s office before he “abruptly retired” on Dec. 2, 2019, is the primary suspect in the ongoing investigation that led to his indictment in federal court, said Superior Court Clerk Danielle Forte.
Demps, 63, of Phenix City, was arrested Wednesday, according to court records. He’s to have a hearing at 11 a.m. Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Hyles. The indictment charges him with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and transporting stolen goods and money.
Demps is in the Lee County Detention Center in Opelika, Ala. Prosecutors in court filings Wednesday asked that he remain jailed, alleging he’s a flight risk because he “wired or caused to be wired over $500,000 to various locations in Africa” between 2010 and 2018.
Federal investigators allege Demps was in charge of depositing court funds derived from felony and misdemeanor fines, forfeitures and condemnations. The money went into accounts the clerk’s office had at Synovus Financial Corp., SunTrust Bank and Colony Bank.
“Payments frequently were made in cash, although some fines were paid through an attorney’s trust account or from online credit card accounts,” the indictment states.
It says Demps took blank office checks, wrote them to codefendants and signed them. He then met his accomplices in the Government Center parking lot or at a specified bank to give them the checks, and collected the money after the checks were cashed, with the codefendants receiving a cut, the indictment says.
It says this happened so often that bank workers started calling Demps to ask whether the checks were legitimate.
“At one financial institution, checks written by Demps were cashed with such frequency that the bank tellers had Demps’ direct phone line written on a cork board behind their teller stations,” the indictment says.
It lists 114 checks cashed between Jan. 4, 2019, and Nov. 29, 2019, the amounts ranging from $2,125 to $9,725.
The codefendants
Others named in the indictment are Terry McBride, Rosalee Bassi, Lamarcus Palmer, George Cook, Samuel Cole, Curtis Porch and Dereen Porch, also known as Dereen Fitzgerald.
These are the charges against each suspect, according to federal authorities:
- Demps faces one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, 35 counts of wire fraud and 34 counts of interstate transportation of stolen property. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years on each conspiracy charge, 20 years on each count of wire fraud and 10 years on each interstate transportation charge.
Curtis Porch, 48, of Columbus, is charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, wire fraud, and interstate transportation of stolen property. If convicted, he faces the same penalties on each charge as Demps.
Dereen Porch, 43, of Columbus, is charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud. If convicted, she faces up to 30 years in prison.
McBride, 43, of Smiths Station, Alabama, is charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and 31 counts each of wire fraud and transporting stolen property. If convicted, he faces the same penalties on each count as Demps.
Cole, 72, of Columbus, is charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, making false statements, and two counts each of wire fraud and transportation of stolen property. If convicted, he faces the same penalties on each count as Demps, plus five years in prison for making false statements.
Bassi, 65, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, is charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and if convicted, faces up to 30 years in prison.
Cook, 33, of Columbus, is charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud. If convicted, he faces faces up to 30 years in prison.
Palmer, 34, of Smiths Station, Alabama, is charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 30 years on the conspiracy charge, and up to 20 years for wire fraud.
Probe began in 2018
Forte, who took office Nov. 14, 2018, said she ordered the investigation the following Nov. 26.
She asked for an internal audit into the clerk’s office, particularly its cash deposits and money seized in law enforcement raids, she said. Her office has been working on the matter with city leaders, the sheriff’s office, police financial crimes investigators, the GBI and FBI, she said.
She said Demps was a chief deputy clerk and finance director in the clerk’s office.
In a news release Thursday morning, Forte, a former prosecutor for the six-county Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit that includes Columbus, said she is committed to “adhering to the highest level or ethical standards and accountability,” and has “instituted financial controls” to prevent such issues from recurring.
Forte won a special election for Superior Court Clerk after her predecessor, Ann Hardman, died in office in March 2018. Hardman in a May 2016 primary defeated then-incumbent Linda Pierce to take the position Pierce had held 28 years, through seven consecutive four-year terms. The following November, Hardman won the General Election after a write-in challenge from Columbus attorney Michael Garner.
Housing some of the county’s most crucial records, the court clerk’s office is an integral part of administering the criminal and civil laws in Muscogee County and resolving disputes over property ownership.
Besides property documentation, the office stores and tracks civil and criminal records, along with collecting and depositing court fines, fees and forfeitures.
This story was originally published August 19, 2021 at 10:42 AM.