Nov. 6, 2007 — Former government aide Alric V. Simmonds will stand trial later this month on charges of embezzlement, grand larceny and conversion of funds, unless he accepts a plea agreement by the end of the week, prosecuting attorneys said Tuesday.
During a quick pre-trial conference, V.I. Superior Court Judge James S. Carroll III set Simmonds' trial date for Nov. 26. Negotiations for a plea agreement would have to wrap up by Friday, he added.
After the meeting, prosecuting attorney Denise George Counts said she didn't know whether Simmonds, deputy chief of staff to former Gov. Charles W. Turnbull, would accept a deal.
"The government might make an offer, and he might accept it," she said. "Or he might not. We don't know at this point."
Simmonds was arrested in April and charged with 94 counts of embezzlement, grand larceny and conversion of government funds for checks he allegedly wrote against an account originally set up for the Bureau of Economic Research (BER). Agents from the V.I. Inspector General's Office said that Simmonds, over a period of four years, siphoned off nearly $1 million from the account for his own personal use. (See "Bail Set for Former Turnbull Aide Accused of Embezzling Nearly $1 Million.") Simmonds was a signatory on the account, which was set up at Banco Popular and was intended to hold funds awarded to BER for the proposed universal health care program. Investigators said that Simmonds allegedly used the account as a means to divert money from the government, writing a total of 228 checks made payable to himself or to cash. The checks ranged from $1,000 to $13,000, for a total of $909,151.
Simmonds was arrested again in June, this time on conspiracy charges. According to a representative from the Inspector General's Office, Simmonds allegedly conspired with another individual to siphon off an additional $230,610 worth of government funds deposited into the same Bureau of Economic Research account.
Nicholas Peru, special agent for the Inspector General, explained during a recent hearing that Simmonds wrote 41 checks from the account to an individual identified only as "Val." The checks were not accompanied by an invoice or other supporting documentation, he said, though some of the check stubs included brief notes indicating the funds were used for such things as cleaning services, hauling, disposal and removal of debris.
As Turnbull's deputy chief of staff, Simmonds had access to several government accounts and was responsible for signing off on various payment documents, such as checks or miscellaneous disbursement vouchers. According to Peru, however, such payments should also be accompanied by an invoice or receipt that can be sent to the Department of Finance and used to replenish the account when funds are used.
Peru also said that over the course of a nine-month investigation, agents within the Inspector General's Office found no such documents and were concerned about the number of checks Simmonds wrote to "Val," (See "Accused Embezzler Faces New Conspiracy Charges").
A trial date addressing the second set of charges has not yet been set.
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