WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | Former SSU Bookstore Head Indicted for Bank Fraud
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The former head of the Savannah State bookstore faces four federal charges connected to bank fraud. Charles Jackson III is accused of attempting to embezzle $200,000 in federal school funds.
Investigators say Jackson, as a contractor for the Follett Higher Education Group, the group in charge of the bookstore, would deposit financial aid reimbursement checks from Savannah State and attempt to take money out of those checks before they went into Follett's account.
In October of 2003, February 2004 and August 2004 - The indictment states that Jackson made three withdrawals from those checks -- for 60, 60, and 80-thousand dollars.
Jackson is also charged with making a false statement to a federal insured institution, the bank involved.
The Savannah-Chatham Police department started the investigation more than a year ago before handing it over to the federal government.
The reason this is a federal case is because the money involved is grant money given to Savannah State by the government to help students with financial difficulty.
While no one else is named in the indictment other than Jackson, investigators do say he was "aided and abetted by others".
So far no one else from Savannah State or Follett has been charged or implicated in this case, and no one from Savannah State is commenting on the investigation.
Jackson, who is out on bond, is supposed to be in U-S District Court Monday for an arraignment hearing. If convicted, he could serve up to 30 year in prison and face a $1,000,000 dollar fine.
Reported by: Andrew Davis, andrewdavis@wtoc.com
