Sept. 15, 2020
Couple Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy and Embezzlement
A Fayetteville couple pied guilty for their role in a conspiracy which embezzled money belonging to the United States. According to court documents, Morris Cooper [63] was a purchasing agent assigned to the Operations and Maintenance Division, Directorate of Public Works (DPW), at Fort Bragg, NC and entrusted to purchase HVAC parts for DPW's HVAC maintenance section. From 2011 into 2019, Cooper used his position as a purchasing agent at DPW, Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, to conspire with vendors to unlawfully enrich the participants of the conspiracy by steering contracts for supplies to specific vendors in return for cash payments and gifts, and by inflating prices on supplies, increasing both the profits to the vendor and the cash payment made to Cooper and/or his wife, Beverley Cooper [53].