San Bernardino County deputies implicated in salary fraud scheme

A grand jury has indicted seven current and former sheriff’s deputies in San Bernardino County in a salary scam.

Prosecutors say the deputies handed in bogus timesheets and other paperwork for training courses they never took. The training at San Bernardino Valley College qualified them for more pay and bigger pensions.

“The individuals charged were able to gain a monetary benefit," says prosecutor Dan Silverman, "by having their names placed on sign-in rosters for courses at the advanced officer training facility.”

Silverman says the deputies submitted the phony paperwork to a statewide commission that oversees salary levels for peace officers.

“They received college credit for courses they did not actually attend. And it is through this mechanism of obtaining these various certificates that certain individuals were able to increase their income.”

Prosecutors say the deputies were paid from a few thousand to nearly $15,000 extra. San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos says Sheriff’s Department whistleblowers uncovered the scheme.

“It was the sheriff’s department that brought it to us," says Ramos. "They didn’t sweep it under the rug and they opened up files, they did everything we asked of them, and that’s tough because it’s your own department. It’s not a happy day but it’s a day we’ll get through because we got a lot of work to do. In saying that, we will hold these people responsible, and if there’s any other information that comes out we will investigate that as well.”

Three of the defendants are now retired. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department placed the other four on paid leave. The defendants could face three to five years in prison if convicted on all charges.