A husband and wife who operated numerous daycare centers in the Indianapolis area have been indicted for allegedly scheming to defraud the government of possibly millions of dollars.
Donald E. Crumpton, 55, and LaFawn Crumpton, 45, both of Fortville, were charged with 27 counts Wednesday, including charges of wire fraud, money laundering and the falsification of records in a federal investigation.
The Crumptons ran Little Miracles, a local not-for-profit that operated daycare centers across the metropolitan area from 2001 until 2010.
According to the indictment, beginning in August 2006, the pair began scheming to collect more money than Little Miracles deserved from the Child Care Development Fund Voucher Program, or CCDF, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program, or CACFP.
The CCDF provides financial assistance to low-income individuals for child care services and the CACFP provides nutritious meals and snacks to disadvantaged children.
The indictment said the pair directed employees to collect confidential information from parents and used the information to falsify reports to the Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration.
The reports helped the organization receive more reimbursement than it deserved.
The indictment alleges that more than $9 million was provided to Little Miracles between January 2007 and June 2010 . At least $7.5 million of that came from the CCDF and at least $1.5 million came from the CACFP. The government alleges that a significant portion of this money was fraudulently obtained.
The Crumptons are also accused of destroying or altering records after authorities began investigating them for fraud in 2010.
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