RICHMOND, Va. — A 47-year-old Richmond woman who was the director of financial aid at J. Sargent Reynolds Community College (JSRCC) has been charged with orchestrating a nearly decade-long scheme to defraud student financial aid funds.
According to a federal indictment that dropped Tuesday, Kiesha Pope is alleged to have used her access to financial aid systems at JSRCC to boost the financial aid eligibility for her friends and family members — who are named as co-conspirators.
Those co-conspirators were not eligible for financial aid benefits at JSRCC — several of whom did not even attend the school.
From 2011 to 2017, Pope obtained financial aid for her son knowing that he was not attending JSRCC in this time frame, the indictment alleged.
Pope also allegedly got financial aid for her ex-fiancé while he was serving a term of incarceration and not attending JSRCC.
The indictment stated she concealed her alleged scheme by falsifying justification for the financial aid.
In one alleged instance, Pope forged medical documents and financial aid documents to show that her goddaughter, who Pope also got financial aid for, was failing to meet academic eligibility due to a breast cancer diagnosis — even though she knew her goddaughter had not been diagnosed with cancer.
She allegedly had agreements with her co-conspirators to receive a portion of the improperly obtained funds as compensation.
The indictment said Pope is alleged to have spent these financial aid funds on various personal expenses, including repairs for her personal vehicle, retail shopping and expenses for her daughter.
In 2017, JSRCC leadership confronted Pope about her relationship with various academically ineligible students receiving high amounts of financial aid, the indictment said. Pope allegedly claimed not to know these students when they were, in fact, her son, goddaughter and cousin.
Pope allegedly claimed that those students had supporting justification for receiving continued financial aid, but when pressed for the documentation, Pope resigned from JSRCC.
In 2018, Pope was hiredas the director of financial aid at Virginia Union University. Her employment there is not related to the indictment.
Pope is charged with conspiring to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. She faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if convicted of any of the fraud offenses.
Joe Schilling, the director of communications and the special assistant to the president, released the following statement in response to the charge:
Reynolds Community College has fully cooperated with relevant law enforcement organizations as part of the investigation referenced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Leadership of the Reynolds Financial Aid Office, as well college leaders responsible for its oversight during the timeframe referenced, are no longer employed at Reynolds. New leadership of the financial aid office has been in place since March of 2018 and has worked diligently to ensure the integrity of all aspects of our financial aid operations. Reynolds is in full compliance with the U.S. Department of Education to participate in the administration of federal financial aid.
