A federal judge has ordered a former Department of Energy subcontractor to pay back $4.4 million stolen from the federal government while conducting work for the Savannah River Site MOX project in South Carolina. Aaron Vennefron must pay the money via cash, forfeiture, and any other means needed, according to the order.
Former project subcontractors Vennefron and Phillip Thompson each pleaded guilty last year in U.S. District Court for South Carolina to a charge of government theft. The defendants were accused of submitting fraudulent invoices for payment of what appeared to be goods needed for work at the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) – a plutonium recycling facility being built at the DOE site near Aiken, S.C.
Vennefron is the founder of Ohio-based AV Security, and was hired in 2010 as a subcontractor to CB&I AREVA MOX Services, the contractor in charge of building the MFFF. He was supposed to purchase goods for the work and then submit invoices in return for payment. But in June 2017 Vennefron admitted he stole the money from the government for his own personal gain. Thompson did the same in February of that year.
On Jan. 29, federal attorneys asked U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs to issue an order of forfeiture, which would require Vennefron to pay back the $4.4 million through cash and seizure of property. Childs granted the request on Jan. 30.
“The United States is entitled to forfeit substitute assets equal to the value of the proceeds obtained by Defendant Vennefron as a result of his violations,” the judge wrote, adding that the value should not exceed $4,403,948.28. “The United States may sell or otherwise dispose of any substitute assets in accordance with law as required to satisfy the above imposed money judgment.”
Thompson was not mentioned in the order. Typically in these cases, the federal government requests an order for one defendant at a time, but there is no indication yet that Thompson will also be required to make payment.
Vennefron and Thompson are still awaiting sentencing for the government theft charge. They face a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison, a fine of as much as $250,000, a maximum of three years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. It is unclear when sentencing will occur.
