Georgia Tech Employee Arrested On Felony Charges Of Forgery And Identity Theft

Atlanta, GA

An investigation by Georgia Tech's office of internal auditing and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has led to the arrest of a Jonesboro woman on charges that she stole the identity of an Illinois resident and used that information to steal over $10,000 from the school.

Merideth Durrah, 38, who worked as a program coordinator in the College of Sciences, faces felony charges related to the incident in which GBI officials says Durrah forged a letter from a professor at Georgia Tech offering the woman a job, then stole at east two payroll checks in the amount of $5,100 each from the school issued in the woman's name.

The investigation began after the Illinois woman was denied employment in her home state following a background check with showed she had not paid taxes on the funds from Georgia Tech.

"This woman had access to privileged information with respect to the person in Illinois," said John Bankhead, GBI spokesman. "How she got access to that information is still under investigation."

Durrah has been terminated from her position at the school and faces felony charges of forgery and theft by taking. Officials say other charges may be filed.

Two Dekalb School Officials Suspended For Test Fraud

Atlanta, GA
The Georgia Professional Standards Commission suspended two Dekalb County School officials on Thursday.

Former Atherton Elementary School principal James Berry was banned from working in Georgia's public schools for two years and former Atherton assistant principal Doretha Alexander was banned for one year for their roles in correcting student's answers on CRCT test forms in order to retain federal funding.

The Commission also approved formal investigations of at least eight other Georgia educators in connection with the statewide scandal. The scheme was uncovered when State officials noticed a high number of eraser marks on tests from Atherton and four other Georgia schools. The Governor's Office of Student Achievements preliminary audit results revealed that someone deliberately changed students' answers on the 5th grade CRCT math re-test.

The state said the scores improved significantly by the changes. At Atherton, the state found on average, answers were altered 21 times per student, the majority of the changes making them correct.

“The evidence presented was both compelling and troubling to me as superintendent of the DeKalb County School System. I assure you I am moving with great speed to address this matter internally.”, said DeKalb County school superintendent, Dr. Crawford Lewis.

Berry and Alexander were also arrested in connection with the incident and face criminal charges including altering public documents.

Court Issues 'Slap On The Wrist' For Court Employee In Ticket Fixing Scam

Decatur, GA

Last week Dekalb County Superior Court Judge Cynthia Becker handed down sentences against former court employee Charlene Johnson and local clothing store owner Sonia Williams for their part in a long running ticket fixing scheme. Six others were arrested during the investigation.

Johnson (pictured at left) pleaded guilty to violating the public trust, using her position in at the Recorder's Court to have cases dismissed in exchange for money. Williams pleaded guilty to bringing tickets to Johnson and giving Johnson cash or "store discounts" in exchange for having cases dismissed.

The two were charged with 171 criminal charges, including violations of the Georgia Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Johnson admitted to netting over $20,000 from the scheme over the last three years. Johnson was sentenced to 20 years, but ordered to serve only 12 months and to pay restitution, while Williams was sentenced to five years, but ordered to serve only 30 days.

Arrest Made In Gwinnett County Nursing Home Identity Thefts

Buford, GA

Police have arrested Iniabel Ferrer at her home in Buford after someone reported that Ferrer and Jose Luis Cuiro had approached them and asked that they use their computer skills to steal money from the bank accounts of elderly Alzheimer's patients at a Gwinnett County nursing home.

Ferrer, 36, was arrested and charged with six felony counts of Exploitation of a Disabled Adult and six felony counts of Financial Indentity Fraud, when police stopped her vehicle as she and Cuiro were leaving their residence and found in their possession documents containing the medical and financial records of several nursing home patients. An arrest warrant was also issued for the 44 year old Cuiro.

The pair had stolen financial and medical records from six residents of a nursing home where Ferrer worked in Buford and intended to use that information to remove funds from the bank accounts of these elderly victims. Ferrer is being held under a $68,400 bond.

Deputy Sheriff Fired Over Fraudulent Bigfoot Corpse

Jonesboro, GA

A local sheriff's deputy and apparent con-man has lost his job over his part in a recent Bigfoot hoax. The 28 year old hoaxer, Matthew Whitton, was fired when the supposed Bigfoot corpse which Whitten and a friend, Rick Dryer, claimed they found in the north Georgia mountains turned out to be a rubber costume.

“I terminated him,” said Police Chief Jeffrey Turner. “He’s disgraced himself, he’s an embarrassment to the Clayton County Police Department, his credibility and integrity as an officer is gone, and I have no use for him,” Turner said. “His behavior is unbecoming of that of a police officer."

“This turn of events from hero to someone who defrauds a nation is just baffling. I don’t know how he got from one point to the other,” Turner said.

Whitton and Dryer had claimed that they found the corpse on a Bigfoot hunting expedition a few months ago. The two con-men had been running a website offering hunting trips to perspective victims for $499 per trip. They produced several videos on Youtube claiming they had found this corpse. In one of these videos the pair meet at Hartsfield International Airport to pick up Dr. Paul Van Buren, a scientist from Texas to examine DNA samples from the creature. The fake scientist was later exposed as Whitton's brother, Martin.

The exposure of the "scientist" fraud lead to the release of another Youtube video in which Whitton tried to salvage the hoax and taunted the people of the Bigfoot research community who had blown his cover (video below).

Within a short time Whitton and Dryer had teamed up with notorious Bigfoot scam artist Tom Biscardi and set up a press conference in Palo Alto, California during which they planned to release results of DNA testing from samples of the corpse. Of the three DNA samples that were tested one was determined to be unusable, one was determined to be human DNA and the other was said to be oppossum DNA.

Biscardi quickly attempted to attribute the oppossum DNA to being from the contents of the creatures stomach, yet the entire scam fell apart over this passed weekend when a block of ice in which the creature was encased melted and revealled that the supposed Bigfoot was in fact a rubber costume.

Both Whitton, who was on administrative leave from the Sheriff's department after shooting himself in the hand while on duty, and Dryer have since disappeared. Police Chief Turner says he has been unable to contact Whitton to give him his termination documents and retrieve police uniforms and other department property.