Shauntele Pridgeon, 54, a former Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) worker, along with 14 others, have been indicted on federal charges.  They have been accused of stealing $3.2 million in child care funds allocated for the Foster Care system over a six-year period.

According to CBS News, Pridgeon was first arrested in May and accused of receiving $1.6 million in illicit payments from 14 separate childcare providers between 2016 and 2022. It is alleged the funds came from either overcharging rates or from daycares that didn’t even exist. Further, it is claimed that Pridgeon used the funds at a casino.

Pridgeon’s position within the DCFS was to review and approve daycare providers under the agency’s jurisdiction.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Illinois:

   A 41-count indictment unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago alleges that SHAUNTELE Y. PRIDGEON orchestrated the fraud scheme from 2016 to 2022 while serving as a Community Social Service Planner for DCFS in Chicago.  Pridgeon fraudulently entered the information of several of her co-defendants into the DCFS computer system and approved them to be paid as providers caring for foster children, the indictment states.  Pridgeon directed at least $3.2 million in State of Illinois funds to the co-defendants and others, each of whom agreed to receive the money even though they knew that no foster children were actually in their care, the indictment states.  The co-defendants and others then paid bribes and kickbacks to Pridgeon totaling approximately $1.6 million, the indictment states.  Pridgeon allegedly used the bribe money to pay personal expenses, including gambling losses at a casino in Hammond, Ind. FULL STORY