Md. man who claimed to help special needs students faces $75K payback

WASHINGTON — A man who claimed to be helping students with special needs and charged D.C. Public Schools for work he never did is facing jail time and has to repay over $75,000.

Charles E. Scott Jr., 38, of Baltimore, Maryland, was sentenced Wednesday to five years probation, which includes jail time, some months of home confinement and 100 hours of community service, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in a press release. He also has to repay $75,398 in restitution to D.C. Public Schools for services that were never performed.

According to the attorney’s office, from February 2013 through December 2013, Scott submitted time sheets, invoices and other documents to D.C. Public Schools’ Office of Special Education.

That office handles the Compensatory Education Program, which provides services such as tutoring, speech therapy and individualized education to students who have learning, mental and/or behavioral disabilities.

Scott submitted invoices, claiming to have performed services for 10 children. His time sheets included the forged signatures of the tutors who supposedly did the work and the parents or guardians of the children he claimed to have helped, the attorney’s office said.

“Scott did not have permission to use the names and dates of the children listed on his invoices and did not have approval from parents or guardians to sign their names,” the attorney’s office said.

Scott pleaded guilty in April to mail fraud and identity theft in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Teta Alim

Teta Alim is a Digital Editor at WTOP. Teta's interest in journalism started in music and moved to digital media.

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