Ex-state of Michigan employee found guilty of embezzlement

FOX 2 - A former state of Michigan employee was found guilty of embezzlement by a Wayne County jury Thursday.

Rufus Chappell was convicted of one count of embezzlement, $20,000 to $50,000, and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in a release.

Chappell, 64, misused state vehicles for personal use for years over weekends, holidays, and outside business hours, racking up unauthorized vehicle usage and mileage fees totaling $47,214.85 between August 2015 and January 2019.

Chappell is scheduled for sentencing on May 17 at 8:30 a.m. before Judge Mariam Bazzi in the 3rd Circuit Court in Wayne County.

The Farmington Hills man had access to and permission to use the state motor pool vehicles for work purposes, as an unemployment examiner with the Talent Investment Agency under the Department of Talent and Economic Development.

The department is now known as the Unemployment Insurance Agency and Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.

Chappell was supposed to use the state vehicles to attend unemployment insurance benefit appeal hearings.

After learning Chappell’s driver’s license had been suspended, the Vehicle and Travel Services and the Department of Talent and Economic Development investigated his vehicle use and uncovered rampant and flagrant misuse.

"This verdict sends a clear message that stealing from the State, and thereby the taxpayers, will not be tolerated," Nessel said. "My office will continue to investigate and prosecute misuses of state resources to ensure all public servants are held accountable for the responsible use of taxpayer-funded resources."

"We value integrity at the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency and we expect staff to be models of ethical behavior," said UIA Director Julia Dale. "We have implemented ethics and conflict of interest policies, pursued bad actors who steal money from taxpayers, created a Legal and Compliance Bureau, and won national awards for our work in bringing criminals to justice. We won’t waver from our mission to serve Michigan’s residents with integrity and we will aggressively go after anyone who breaks the law while working for the agency."