Earlier this week, Ayanna Nesbitt, a former clerk for the Retirement Plan for Chicago Transit Authority Employees, was sentenced to a year in federal prison. The U.S. Department of Justice reported that Nesbitt obtained over $356,000 in Plan funds through fraudulent means.
As per the Department of Justice between 2019 and 2021, Nesbitt formulated approximately 43 fraudulent requests. These requests misrepresented the identities and rights of recipients to pension, death benefit payments, and refunds of pension contributions.
Nesbitt directed the funds to financial accounts under her control or to others, who then transferred the funds to her. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Nesbitt pleaded guilty earlier this year to a wire fraud charge. U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly imposed the year-and-a-day sentence after a hearing in federal court in Chicago.
