Former Verizon Worker Charged in Charity Scam

A now has an arrest.

Sheneka Humphrey, 33, of Atlanta, was arrested and cited on criminal attempt to commit theft by taking, a felony charge. She was being held in Fulton County Jail without bond.

Milton detectives charged her April 19 with allegedly attempting to defraud Verizon Wireless of $9,000 through a charity scheme.

Milton Police Detective Kevin Barry said between October and December 2011, Humphrey allegedly coerced coworkers into filing false reports of hours worked for the legitimate charity she ran, Atlanta-based A Place of Motherly Love Inc. The attempted ruse was discovered before the check was cut.

At the time Humphrey was an employee of Verizon Wireless, which has its Southeastern headquarters in Milton. She left the company in February of this year – before the investigation began in March – on an unrelated matter.

The company's Verizon Foundation rewards employees who do charitable work by matching the hours with a donation to the organization of up to $750 per employee. Workers log the hours on the foundation's Web site; the tallies are then verified by the company before payment is made.

According to the Verizon Foundation, Humphrey and 11 other employees claimed they each did 50 hours of work for the charity, meaning a donation of $9,000 to A Place of Motherly Love. An investigation revealed the 11 employees did not know how to enter the time, so Humphrey allegedly provided detailed instructions, and, in some cases, entered the hours herself from the coworker's computer.

The fired employees told investigators they'd never done any work and never received any compensation for the fraudulent hours.

Verizon officials contacted Milton Police on March 28, and on April 19 Humphrey was charged.

For questions, email Bob Pepalis.