He embezzled nearly half a million dollars from this SC school district

The former chief financial officer of a large South Carolina school district could face a long prison sentence after embezzling close to half a million dollars for his personal use.

Brantley Thomas, 61, of Hanahan, pleaded guilty to twenty federal charges involving embezzlement, money laundering and public corruption in his role as CFO for the Berkeley County School District, according to U.S. Attorney Beth Drake.

Thomas was responsible for paying BCSD vendors, and would intentionally overpay so a refund check would be issued back to BCSD, Drake’s office said. Thomas then converted the refund checks to his own use.

Thomas’ scheme involved sometimes depositing the refund checks into a personal bank account, and other times converting the checks into money orders, which he would then deposit into a personal account, according to Drake’s office.

Thomas converted approximately $450,000 this way, spending the money on things such as travel and private club memberships.

Thomas also pleaded guilty to 10 counts of public corruption, admitting to taking sixteen kickbacks of $2,000 each, a total of $32,000, from an insurance vendor in exchange for BCSD business, Drake’s office reported.

The maximum penalty for the embezzlement and money laundering counts are 10 years in prison. The maximum penalty for the public corruption charges each are 20 years in prison, according to Drake’s office.

A sentencing date has not been set.

This story was originally published January 16, 2018 at 3:46 PM with the headline "He embezzled nearly half a million dollars from this SC school district."