Staff Reports
NS&D Monitor
12/18/2015
Two men connected to work at the Savannah River Site’s Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) were indicted for allegedly stealing more than $4 million from the federal government. Bill Nettles, U.S. Attorney for South Carolina, announced Wednesday the indictment of Aaron Vennefron of Hamilton, Ohio, and Phillip Thompson of Augusta, Ga., for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and theft of government funds.
According to a press release from the Department of Justice, Vennefron and Thompson are accused of conspiring to defraud the government by creating fraudulent invoices for payment of what appeared to be goods needed for work at the MFFF. The indictment says Vennefron created AV Security, an Ohio-based company, in 2010 for "the sole purpose of submitting false invoices for non existent goods." Vennefron worked with Thompson, a senior representative for the MOX project through his work as senior representative of Wise Services, according to the indictment. The company was created in 1993 to serve as a subcontractor at a Department of Energy facility on Ohio. Wise added services in South Carolina when it was hired as a subcontractor for the MOX project, according to the indictment.
The indictment says Thompson and Vennefron willingly obtained money and property through wire communication. The two said their transactions were part of necessary work for the MOX project, according to the indictment. Goods were assumed to be purchased from another Ohio company, Ross Hardware. But, according to the indictment, "no goods were provided by Ross Hardware."
