A Philadelphia Sheriff's Office employee and three others were charged today in a scheme that federal prosecutors say bilked the city out of $400,000.
Richard Bell, an employee in the Sheriff's accounting department, orchestrated the scheme, prosecutors said, by writing bogus checks from 2007 to 2010 on the Sheriff's Office bank accounts.
Bell, 36, of Philadelphia, forwarded the checks to Robert Rogers, also of Philadelphia, according to court documents.
Rogers, 44, then cashed the checks made payable to himself and forwarded checks to others. Authorities said he personally forwarded $147,000 in checks made payable to a company connected to Reginald Berry and Jackiem Wright. Together, the group split the proceeds, according to the charging documents.