‘Terrible irony.’ Woman stole $553,000 from Habitat for Humanity to buy a new house

A former finance director for the house-building charity Habitat for Humanity embezzled more than $500,000 so she could buy a new home in a better neighborhood.

“There was a terrible irony in this case,” assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Mathews told U.S. Judge Mary Lewis on Tuesday in a windowless courtroom.

The irony was that although defendant Ashley Ingram, 35, worked for the legendary charity Habitat, which builds and repairs houses for those in need, she wanted a new house for herself to get out of a crime-ridden neighborhood for the sake of her young child and another child on the way, Matthews said.

“She stole money to put her family in a better situation,” Matthews told the judge. “Habitat for Humanity trusted her.”

Lewis said she appreciated the irony but sentenced Ingram to two years in federal prison and a $10,000 fine.

Ingram had pleaded guilty last year to theft of government funds.

Ingram has also made full restitution of the money she stole.

Lewis said she hoped the sentence would serve as a deterrent for anyone who might be tempted to embezzle money. Factored into the sentence was the relatively high amount of the theft, the fact that Ingram occupied a position of trust and that Habitat for Humanity is a charity that is dependent on its reputation to raise funds, the judge said.

“You were a victim of a confluence of circumstances that made you vulnerable,” Lewis told Ingram. But others go through tough times without becoming a thief, the judge said.

Jim Griffin, Ingram’s attorney, had asked for a combined sentence of home detention and probation.

Ingram had no criminal record, was highly regarded by those who knew her, was remorseful and made full restitution for more than $500,000, Griffin told the judge. “What she did was totally out of character for her.”

Griffin asked for understanding since “this was not a situation where someone had stolen money to support a vice... This was a real bad area of town where gunshots were going off.”

Lewis also heard from Habitat for Humanity officials, who said the theft was a blow to the reputation of their charity, which has built or repaired some 285 homes in the Midlands area in the last 40 years.

The organization also had to slow work on 16 houses, and pay legal fees to a lawyer with the Maynard Nexsen law firm and caused difficulties in fund-raising, said Emily Fernald, Habitat for Humanity for Central South Carolina acting interim director.

Fernald said she recognized that Ingram may have felt she was in dire straits, but many families that Habitat builds houses for feel the same way.

“But they aren’t stealing. They aren’t lying — especially from an organization that helps people,” Fernald told the judge.

When it came her time to speak, Ingram apologized to Habitat and to her family, saying she felt great shame and guilt about what she had done. .

“I’ve been very remorseful. I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ve tried my best to make Habitat whole.”

In a press conference after Tuesday’s hearing, federal prosecutor Matthews said Ingram had joined Habitat for Humanity in 2022 and was directed to open several bank accounts for the group.

“There were lots of bank accounts involved, lots of transactions,” Matthews said.

“A concerned party” reported questionable activity to Habitat, and the group contacted the FBI, which began investigating, Matthews.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Ingram applied for an employee retention tax credit for retaining employees during the COVID-19 pandemic from the IRS on behalf of Habitat for Humanity, but without the knowledge of the charity.

Ingram then received checks totaling $388,550.75 from the United States Treasury and deposited the funds into a Habitat for Humanity account that she controlled, then transferred the money from the Habitat for Humanity account into her own bank accounts, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

The theft of federal funds enabled the FBI to become involved. FBI agents were in the courtroom Tuesday.

Habitat officials said they have made updates to finance policies and put strong controls in place.