Former Virginia birth-injury program executive pleads guilty to stealing nearly $5 million from employer

NEW KENT COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A New Kent County man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to embezzling nearly $5 million from a state-run fund designed to support Virginia children who were disabled by a birth injury.

On Tuesday, Oct. 9, 38-year-old John Hunter Raines of the Providence Forge area pleaded guilty to mail fraud and money laundering offenses he committed while serving as the chief financial officer of the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program (Birth-Injury Program), according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). He was initially arrested in August .

During his time as chief financial officer, Raines stole over $4.8 million from the Birth-Injury Program between January 2022 and at least October 2023, which he then proceeded to spend on lavish gifts, cryptocurrency, various trips and more.

The Birth-Injury Program is a fund administered by the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission — a state agency. It benefits the families of children who, during the birthing process, experienced a brain or spinal cord injury that resulted in a developmental and/or cognitive disability.

Raines’ role as chief financial officer involved overseeing the Birth-Injury Program’s finances, which included him having access to its bank account. According to the DOJ, he used that access to transfer funds to bank accounts under his name via wire transfer at least 59 times. This is in addition to using the program’s debit card for his own purposes.

The DOJ provided a list of ways Raines spent these embezzled funds. They include:

• Purchasing several vehicles (ex. eight luxury golf carts for over $160,000 and a 2023 Chevrolet Suburban)
• Spending over $100,000 on the Virginia Lottery and at gambling locations such as the Rivers Casino in Portsmouth and the Colonial Downs Racetrack in New Kent
• Paying “an intimate partner” at least $29,000 and giving his wife tens of thousands of dollars
• Spending over $9,000 on private limousines, including a Mercedes limousine used to take Raines and friends to various Virginia vineyards
• Purchasing “numerous” cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Dogecoin, as well as transferring funds to his brokerage accounts
• Spending over $125,000 on private jet travel for Raines’ friends and family — including over $34,000 for the private jet pictured below, which took him, his wife and his friends to Nashville, Tennessee for three days
• Putting over $60,000 towards debts like his student loans, his mortgage and other loans
• Spending over $19,000 to purchase eight 2022 1-ounce American Gold Eagle Bullion coins, as well as a 100-ounce silver bar, which are pictured below

According to the DOJ, Raines also obstructed the ability of auditors to conduct state-mandated annual audits of the Birth-Injury Program. By failing to provide requested program files to auditors in a timely manner, Raines “deliberately impeded” the auditing process.

“Due at least in part to Raines’ obstructive conduct, the Birth-Injury Program’s statutorily mandated audits continue to be delayed by over three years,” the DOJ said.

Raines is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 27, 2025. He faces a maximum of 30 years in prison. According to the DOJ, the actual sentences for federal crimes are usually less than their maximum penalties.

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