Updated: 4 indicted in alleged bonus scheme

A federal grand jury indicted a former Morgan City Housing Authority executive director, another former employee and two current employees last week for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to receive over $500,000 in illegal bonuses.
A grand jury in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana re-turned the indictments Feb. 18 on one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Former Executive Director Charles E. Spann, former housing manager Tori D. Johnson, accounting tech Diana L. Pace and housing manager Sandra L. Greene were all listed in the indictment. The indictment also named Pace and Greene in 14 counts of theft of government money. Johnson faces 12 counts of theft of government money, and Spann was indicted on five counts of government money.
Pace and Greene, both classified as civil service employees, are still employed with housing authority.
Housing Authority Executive Director Clarence Robinson said this morning that he did not want to comment yet on the indictments.
From 2007 through 2013, Spann, Johnson, Pace and Greene and others conspired with one another “to commit offenses against the United States,” by issuing and receiving over $500,000 in bonus payments to which they weren’t entitled, the indictment stated.
Spann served as executive director from April 2007 until June 2013 when he resigned. Johnson resigned before Spann did, The Daily Review reported in June 2013.
A December 2014 Louisi-ana legislative auditor’s report said the Morgan City Housing Authority paid almost $700,000 in improper bonuses and wages in excess of what state civil service rules allowed between 2007 and 2014.
The audit report said the housing authority “improperly paid” employees $566,544 in bonuses between November 2007 and March 2013 based on a reward policy that was altered by Johnson, the authority’s housing manager.
The state auditor’s report said another $130,418 was improperly paid by the housing authority to three employees as raises in excess of civil service guidelines. The improper raises were paid in six separate increases between May 2009 and June 2014. Some employees received a 20 percent salary increase in a five-month period in 2009, according to the investigative audit.
Auditors said that state civil service commission officials approved a one-time reward payment for classified employees, not to exceed 10 percent of the worker’s annual salary. The payment was to be made to employees between July 2006 and November 2007 for work performed in removing the housing authority from its previous troubled status.
Payments totaling $111,657 were paid to Spann, who was not eligible to receive any of the payments because his job was not covered by civil service, the audit said.
Pace received $137,661 in improper awards; Johnson, who also handled all civil service matters, received $100,041; and Greene received $165,405 in improper rewards, according to the audit report.
On the finding concerning improper pay raises, the report said Greene received $61,756 in excess wages between May 2009 and September 2012; Pace received $47,965 in excess pay in the same period; and Johnson was paid $20,697 in excess wages during that period. The civil service regulations allowed up to a 5 percent increase, but in most cases the three workers received raises of 4 to 10 percent on each of the six occasions, according to auditors.
The report said that for each pay raise, the authority “failed to complete performance evaluations and neglected to report the pay increases to civil service as required.”
“By initiating unauthorized pay increases, Ms. Johnson caused public funds to be improperly paid to herself and other housing authority employees which may have violated state and federal laws,” including theft, filing false public records and malfeasance, the audit report said.