An Edwardsville couple who ran a St. Louis non-profit were arrested Tuesday on charges of stealing more than $7 million that was supposed to feed low-income Missouri children, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in St. Louis announced.
Diarra Williams, 30, and Nicholas Warford, 31, both of Edwardsville, are scheduled to enter a not guilty plea Tuesday afternoon, according to a news release from the federal prosecutors in the U.S. Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Federal court records do not list defense attorneys for Williams or Warford.
Williams and Warford were indicted on Feb. 26 with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, six counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of obstruction of an official proceeding, according to court records.
“The indictment says the couple defrauded Missouri’s At-Risk Afterschool Program and Summer Food Service Program, which are funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,” according to the news release.
“Meals are served by schools and non-profit organizations. Williams ran a non-profit called The Bailey Foundation, which fraudulently claimed it served more than 2.2 million meals, the indictment says. Williams and Warford then laundered the meal money through a company owned by Warford, Warford’s Classic Catering LLC, by creating fake invoices that showed meal purchases that were never made.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office reports the indictment alleges the following:
▪ The scheme lasted from March 2020 through July 2022. An April 2021 invoice falsely claimed that 208,456 meals were served, each of which included an 8 oz. serving of milk. Warford’s company bought no milk and paid less than $5,000 for food.
▪ Williams and Warford used the money to buy a $1.4 million home in Edwardsville, a 2018 Lincoln Navigator, a 2019 Ram 1500 Rebel pickup, a 2011 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica and two 2021 Ram Promaster vans. They also spent $140,000 on extravagant vacations, $100,000 on furniture, home electronics and landscaping for their new home, more than $50,000 in school tuition payments and $460,000 on Warford’s mother.
“The couple falsely claimed in reports to the state that they’d spent the money on feeding children and told the IRS that their lavish spending represented legitimate business expenses of Warford’s company,” the release states.
“They also tried to impede the investigation by producing phony invoices in response to a federal grand jury subpoena.”
The indictment seeks the forfeiture of vehicles and the couple’s home.
“The alleged fraud is beyond despicable,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division said in the news release. “The defendants allegedly stole millions in taxpayer dollars meant to feed low-income children in Missouri for their own use.”
Editor's note: This story was originally published by the Belleville News-Democrat, a news partner of St. Louis Public Radio.
