Virginia

Ohio Man Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Fairfax County Government

An Ohio man pleaded guilty Monday to stealing nearly $750,000 from state and local governments, including Fairfax County, Virginia, by submitting phony invoices to them.

Robert Mutua Muli of Carrollton, Ohio, struck a plea bargain with federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Virginia. Under the plea deal, Muli, 59, admitted that he conspired to commit wire fraud against four separate state and local governments. He faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced in October.

According to court documents, Muli would submit phony invoices to the governments' finance departments. The invoices were made to resemble legitimate bills from vendors like Dell Computers.

The biggest victim was Fairfax County, which lost more than $610,000. The county was not identified in court papers, but a county spokesman confirmed Tuesday that the county was the victim. He said the county reported the fraud to law enforcement and has addressed its internal procedures to prevent future losses.

The city of Detroit lost more than $130,000 and the state of Vermont lost $3,900.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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