Texas man pleads guilty to Kansas fraudulent refund scheme

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A 28-year-old Texas man has pleaded guilty to a $1 million kickback scheme that took place over an almost two-year span in Kansas.

The Department of Justice announced Thursday that Mercele Brooks, of Harker Heights, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of accessory after the fact to laundering monetary instruments.

The fraudulent customer refund scheme involved more than an dozen suspects, according to the DOJ.

The DOJ revealed that four other people were involved — Kanesha Mercer, Darius Polite, Rudy Hunt and Veronica Kilman — who all worked at Advanced Call Center Technologies (“ACCT”) in Junction City, Kansas, and processed customer refunds for AT&T Digital Life home security systems.

The fraudulent refunds, which took place between December 2016 and August 2018, totaled to approximately $1 million. The DOJ said employees had a system established where they would deposit the funds in co-conspirators’ accounts, and then receive a portion of their share later.

According to the DOJ, Brooks received $100,317 in wire fraud proceeds.

“This type of fraud, put simply is greed driven. These crimes are not victimless, as ultimately costs are passed on to the consumer,” said FBI Kansas City Special Agent in Charge Stephan A. Cyrus.

“This investigation determined that multiple bad actors took part in this scheme, and this plea demonstrates that these individuals are being held accountable for their actions.”

The DOJ also revealed the charges against the four employees, as well as several others who were involved. It included:

• Kanesha Mercer, 35 , pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced to 14 months in prison.
• Kory Epps Jr., 25 , pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and was sentenced to 10 months in prison.
• Caylon McCormick pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and was sentenced to six months in prison.
• Darius Polite, 30 , pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and is awaiting sentencing.
• Anthony Charite, 33, Kiondra Armstrong, 30, Fontelle Jolly, 26, Veronica Kilman, 33, Rudy Hunt, 32, and Sharika Pope, 42 , pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
• Erica Jackson, 41, and Shunqureau Gilbert, 30, pleaded guilty to laundering of monetary instruments.

Currently, the FBI is still investigating, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Skip Jacobs is prosecuting the case.

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