Former Kansas foster care leader pleads guilty to wire fraud
Former St. Francis Ministries CEO Robert Smith admitted to using the organization's credit card for personal expenses. He was accused to scheming to bilk the organization of more than $4.7 million through inflated invoices.
Robert Smith, who led Saint Francis Ministries from 2014 to 2020, pleaded guilty Thursday to wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 15 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector
Former St. Francis Ministries CEO Robert Smith admitted to using the organization’s credit card for personal expenses. He was accused to scheming to bilk the organization of more than $4.7 million through inflated invoices.
TOPEKA — Former Saint Francis Ministries CEO Robert Smith admitted in federal court Thursday that he used the organization’s credit card for personal expenses and authorized payments for a co-defendant’s fraudulent invoices.
Then he pleaded guilty to a single charge of wire fraud for a $6,909.73 credit card payment.
Smith led the foster care organization from 2014 to 2020, where the Episcopal priest was known as Father Bobby. Federal authorities gathered evidence that Smith and William Whymark, who provided IT services, engaged in a scheme to bilk the organization of more than $4.7 million through inflated invoices. Smith also used the organization’s credit card for family travels, fine clothes, meals at five-star restaurants and cash withdrawals.
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