Fort Bend 县税务官被联邦起诉：被控用县政府薪资雇人照顾母亲、安排幽灵雇员领薪两年
美国司法部德州南区联邦检察官办公室（U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas）10月22日宣布，一个联邦大陪审团已起诉三人，指控他们涉嫌通过欺诈性薪资安排侵吞 Fort Bend 县的资金。
被告包括 Fort Bend 县民选税务评估征收官 Carmen Patrice Turner（65岁，住 Richmond）、47岁的 Shemerrylyn Regina Fields（住 Rosharon）与69岁的 Victor Calvin Ewing（住 Houston），检方指称后两人是 Turner 为实施该计划而雇入的人员。Turner 面临共谋、涉及联邦项目资金的盗窃与电汇欺诈等指控。Turner 与 Fields 定于在 Houston 在联邦治安法官 Peter Bray 面前首次出庭；Ewing 在 Illinois 州 Chicago 被捕，将在当地首次出庭。
起诉书指称，Turner 在约2023年9月至2025年9月期间策划该计划，用县政府薪资资金支付未实际从事县政府工作的人员。Turner 涉嫌将 Fields 与另一人雇为副税务书记员，却指派二人在县政府正常工作时间内照顾她年迈的母亲，并指示他们通过县里的电话考勤系统远程打卡、虚假报告自己正在履行公务。
起诉书还指称，Turner 明知 Ewing 已在 Chicago 一家公司全职工作、不会履行县里的职务，仍将其雇为全职部门协调员。Ewing 在继续其 Chicago 工作的同时领取县政府薪水，并涉嫌同意把部分县薪资转账给 Turner，其中一次是在收到县薪资后通过 Cash App 向 Turner 转账。三名被告还涉嫌使用虚假考勤表、隐瞒真实工作内容，并保持对县计算机系统的访问权限，以制造合法雇佣的表象。
起诉书另指称，Turner 曾使用 Ewing 的登录凭证访问 WebDealer 系统，该系统供县税务办公室与德州车管局（Texas Department of Motor Vehicles）办理车辆登记；在其中一笔交易中，Turner 错误地批准了一笔295,836.92美元的车辆价格，而正确价格应为29,583.92美元，导致经销商被自动从其银行账户划扣的销售税出现重大差错。检察官办公室的发布未公布该计划给县政府造成的总损失金额。
德州南区联邦检察官 Aaron Reitz 表示，Turner 多年来顶着尊称在 Fort Bend 县行走，而她与同谋涉嫌的公共腐败行为既不光彩、也属违法，纳税人理应得到更好的对待，并承诺其办公室将尽力伸张正义、纠正错误。联邦调查局（FBI）Houston 外勤办公室特别探员主管 Jason Hudson 表示，公共服务是一种特权、不是违法牟利的权利，公职人员违法即辜负了其宣誓服务与保护的公民的信任，并呼吁公众举报公共腐败线索。德州公共安全部 Erik Burse 中尉表示，各方协力之下，正义得以伸张。
若罪名成立，三名被告每项电汇欺诈罪名最高可判20年监禁，涉及联邦项目资金的盗窃罪名最高可判10年，共谋罪名最高可判5年，每项罪名还可并处最高25万美元罚款。本案由 FBI 与 Texas Rangers 调查，助理联邦检察官 Carolyn Ferko 与 Rodolfo Ramirez 负责起诉。起诉书仅为指控，被告在依法定罪之前推定无罪。
Fort Bend County Tax Assessor-Collector Indicted in Federal Payroll Fraud Scheme: Clerks Allegedly Paid to Care for Her Mother
A federal grand jury has returned an indictment against three individuals for their alleged roles in a scheme to defraud Fort Bend County, Texas, through fraudulent payroll practices, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas announced on October 22.
The defendants are Carmen Patrice Turner, 65, of Richmond, the elected tax assessor-collector of Fort Bend County, who faces charges involving conspiracy, theft concerning federal program funds, and wire fraud; Shemerrylyn Regina Fields, 47, of Rosharon; and Victor Calvin Ewing, 69, of Houston, both of whom Turner allegedly hired as part of the scheme. Turner and Fields were expected to make their initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter Bray in Houston, while law enforcement arrested Ewing in Chicago, Illinois, where he was expected to make his initial appearance.
According to the indictment, Turner orchestrated a scheme from approximately September 2023 through September 2025 to use county payroll funds to pay individuals for work they did not perform. Turner allegedly hired Fields and another individual as deputy tax clerks but directed them to provide care for her elderly mother during regular county work hours, and instructed them to clock in and out remotely through the county's telephone timekeeping system while falsely reporting they were performing their official duties.
The indictment further alleges Turner hired Ewing as a full-time department coordinator despite knowing he already worked full-time for a company in Chicago and would not perform the duties of the county position. Ewing allegedly received a county salary while continuing his employment in Chicago, and agreed to transfer a portion of his county payroll deposits to Turner, in one instance transferring money to Turner through Cash App after receiving a county payroll payment. The three allegedly used false timesheets, concealed their actual work activities, and maintained access to county computer systems to create the appearance of legitimate employment.
According to the indictment, Turner also used Ewing's credentials to access WebDealer, a system county tax offices and the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles use to process vehicle registrations, while Ewing was working in Chicago. In one of those transactions, Turner allegedly erroneously approved a vehicle cost of $295,836.92 instead of $29,583.92, causing the dealership a significant error in the assessed sales tax, which is automatically withdrawn from the dealership's bank account. The release did not state a total loss amount for the alleged scheme.
"Carmen Turner has been strutting around Fort Bend County with the title The Honorable for years. Nothing could be more dishonorable — or illegal — than her and her conspirators' public corruption," said U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz. "Taxpayers deserve so much better." Jason Hudson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Houston Field Office, said public service is a privilege, not a right to break the law, and that when a public official violates the law, they violate the trust of the citizens they swore to serve and protect, urging anyone with information about public corruption to report it. Lieutenant Erik Burse of the Texas Department of Public Safety said that through collaborative effort, justice prevails.
If convicted, all three face up to 20 years for each wire fraud count, a maximum of 10 years for theft concerning federal program funds, and another five years for conspiracy, with each charge also carrying a potential fine of up to $250,000. The FBI and the Texas Rangers conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carolyn Ferko and Rodolfo Ramirez are prosecuting the case. An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：Houston 的 Bob Casey 美国联邦法院大楼（德州南区联邦法院所在地，本案被告在此首次出庭；Wikimedia Commons，公共领域）
