Three St. Thomas residents were arrested Thursday by federal agents on charges of falsifying documents in the Office of Veterans Affairs Work-Study Program.
Charlene Gibson, 31; Jeffrey M. Sibilly, 23, and Gail Kineta Fraser, 25, were charged with willfully making material false statements on work-study time records maintained by the Office of Veterans Affairs on St. Thomas, U.S. Attorney James Hurd Jr. announced. The program employs veterans who are attending a qualifying educational program.
Documents filed with the complaint allege that Fraser’s time records for the summer and fall of 1999 claimed she was enrolled at the University of the Virgin Islands. When federal agents investigated, they found that Fraser graduated from UVI in May 1999.
The investigation also showed that neither Sibilly nor Fraser performed any duties or job functions in the Office of Veterans Affairs during the time period in question, Hurd said.
Gibson is a veterans' service representative in the Office of Veterans Affairs who Hurd said was responsible for supervising the work-study students. She allegedly approved and initiated the work-study time records for Fraser and Sibilly and sent the information to Puerto Rico for payment. Fraser and Sibilly were paid from funds disbursed by the U.S. Treasury — thus the federal charges.
The three face a maximum of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
The defendants, who appeared Thursday in the U.S. Magistrate Court on St. Thomas, were subsequently released from custody. A preliminary hearing is scheduled April 26.
