Charmaine Gatlin worked as the former Chief Operating Officer of the Jackson Health Foundation earning a six-figure salary.
Using this position Gatlin defrauded the foundation of at least $4.3 million intended to support Jackson Health System’s safety net hospitals and patients between 2014 and 2024. Instead, Gatlin used multiple methods to divert these funds for her personal use.
Court proceedings found Gatlin used her position to funnel the foundation’s funds to vendors who provided compensation in the form of kickbacks and directing contracts toward companies that provided Gatlin with designer goods. Gatlin also approved nearly $2 million in invoices from Yergan Jones, an audiovisual vendor, for services never performed and was provided with roughly $1 million in kickbacks.
Prosecutors stated Gatlin coached Yergan Jones on how to falsify invoices to make them more convincing. The misappropriated funds were used to purchase Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Apple products, and a rose-gold golf cart in addition to other luxury items.
Gatlin was terminated after internal reviews flagged the misconduct. Internal reviews are a great method for discovering ongoing or potential fraud. More frequent reviews can dissuade individuals from enacting fraud schemes and further prevent fraud from occurring.
Photo by Mikhail Nilov
