For 17 years, a Berkeley County Sheriff's Office employee quietly forged checks, faked signatures and skimmed cash meant for taxpayers and some of the county's most vulnerable residents. Lisa Lee French, 48, of Martinsburg, has now admitted to it all, acknowledging a scheme that prosecutors say drained nearly $3 million from conservatorship and estate accounts the Sheriff's Office was supposed to be protecting.
Years of Forged Checks and a Stolen Signature Stamp
French admitted to conspiring to steal cash payments collected by the Sheriff's Office and to manipulate conservatorship and estate accounts overseen by the office between 2007 and 2024, according to WDTV. She also acknowledged issuing fraudulent checks, forging signatures, misusing a Sheriff's signature stamp, and diverting the funds for her own benefit, per the same report. The Dominion Post reports the case was overseen by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble.
Court documents show the scheme involved more than 700 fraudulent transactions, including over 550 forged checks, connected to at least 59 conservator bank accounts, the station's report states. Those accounts are typically set up to manage finances for people who can no longer handle their own affairs, meaning the fraud reached directly into funds meant to protect some of the county's most defenseless residents.
Taxpayers and Vulnerable Residents Among the Victims
The victims include Berkeley County taxpayers, individuals under conservatorship, and the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office itself, according to the same account. U.S. Attorney Matthew L. Harvey, who announced French's admission, said the damage extended well beyond those directly targeted. “Fraud on this scale harms not only those directly targeted, but the entire Berkeley County community. We are committed to ensuring accountability and protecting the integrity of our public offices,” Harvey said, as reported by WDTV.
French has agreed to pay more than $2.7 million in restitution, per the same outlet, which puts the figure at $2,737,932. A separate federal indictment hosted by WV Public Broadcasting alleges that French and co-defendant Barbara Gail Gooden embezzled and misappropriated more than $3 million altogether, with the government stating it intended to seek forfeiture at sentencing of at least that same restitution amount.
Co-Defendant Awaits Trial Next Spring
Gooden, who was charged alongside French with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud, has not resolved her case and is scheduled for trial on March 23, 2027, according to WDTV. The indictment, filed in June 2026, describes a scheme stretching from around 2007 until October 2024 and states that the defendants stole U.S. currency collected from Berkeley County taxpayers, per the indictment document.
The investigation that led to French's admission was carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office and the West Virginia State Auditor's Office, according to the Dominion Post. Senior litigation counsel Andrew Cogar is prosecuting the case, the outlet reports.
County Weighs Separate Civil Action to Recover Losses
Apart from the criminal case, the Berkeley County Commission has unanimously authorized its legal director to file civil litigation aimed at recovering the funds allegedly taken by former Sheriff's Office employees, according to The Journal. County officials said they wanted victims compensated sooner rather than waiting out a lengthy criminal process, and that delaying a civil filing could raise statute-of-limitations concerns, the paper reports. Even so, the county's legal director cautioned that the lawsuit does not guarantee recovery of the full amount allegedly stolen, according to the same report.
The Dominion Post notes the case comes amid a broader federal push on fraud enforcement: the Department of Justice announced the formation of a National Fraud Enforcement Division this year, which focuses on investigating and prosecuting fraud against the American public and supports the President's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government initiative chaired by the vice president that addresses fraud, waste and abuse in federal benefit programs.
