‘Smooth con.’ Two charged with using forged names to steal from Kentucky housing agency

Two people used forged signatures to steal more then $70,000 from a Kentucky public housing agency, a federal grand jury has charged.

One of those charged, Karen Arlene Beverly, listed her employer as “Smooth Con” on one bank account where she allegedly deposited stolen money, according to the indictment.

A grand jury charged Beverly and Jock Angelo Wormack on Aug. 22. The two listed addresses in Harlan County and Louisville on bank accounts they opened.

They are charged with conspiracy, wire fraud and identity theft.

Beverly, 46, was a client from November 2021 to June 2023 of the Cumberland Valley Regional Housing Authority, which helps people find and pay for rental housing.

According to the indictment, someone involved in the conspiracy wrote 73 checks to Beverly from the housing authority’s account, for a total of $35,731.

Wormack, 55, received 71 checks on the housing agency’s account for a total of $36,084.

The signatures of housing authority employees were forged on the checks, the indictment charges.

The indictment also charges Wormack with listing a fake employer in Harlan County called Smoove Touch in order to get $36,548 in unemployment payments in 2020 and 2021, when Congress enhanced unemployment benefits to help people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The wire fraud charges against the two are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.