Three charged with fraud in connection to Dayton public corruption case

Three charged with fraud in connection to Dayton public corruption case

Three charged with fraud in connection to Dayton public corruption case

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Ohio
29 October 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DAYTON – Three individuals are facing fraud charges in relation to a public corruption investigation in Dayton.

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio and Joseph Deters, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, announced the charges, which were unsealed today.

In May, a federal grand jury indicted:

Steve R. Rauch, 64, of Germantown, – owner, operator and president of a series of companies including Steve Rauch Inc., Rauch Trucking and SRI Inc. that perform demolition, trucking and landfill work;
Joyce S. Cameron, 71, of Trotwood, – who owned, operated and served as president of Green Star Trucking, Inc., a business that hauls construction materials and demolition debris; and
James Cameron, 80, of Trotwood, – Joyce Cameron’s husband and Green Star employee.

According to court documents, Rauch, with the assistance of Joyce and James Cameron, fraudulently convinced government entities to award and pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars in demolition contracts.

Rauch paid the Camerons a fee – usually either several thousand dollars or credits against debts owed to Rauch – in exchange for using Green Star’s name on contracts.

Green Star was qualified as a Disadvantaged Business and the Camerons allegedly allowed for Rauch to name Green Star on contracts even though it did not perform the work required of a Disadvantaged Business. In actuality, Rauch’s companies allegedly completed the work and Green Star received a cut of the proceeds.

Joyce or James Cameron allegedly signed paperwork fraudulently certifying that Green Star had performed all of the work consistent with the government contracts. Rauch also allegedly instructed James Cameron to be present at work locations to create the false appearance that Green Star was actually performing work, even though Cameron performed no work on site.

Rauch and Joyce and James Cameron are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and six counts of mail fraud. Both crimes are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

In April, a federal grand jury returned indictments against a former Dayton city commissioner, a then current city official and two Dayton businessmen, charging them with fraud and public corruption.

Those charged in that round of indictments include former Dayton city commissioner Joey Williams, former director of Dayton’s Minority Business Assistance Center Roshawn Winburn, Clayton Luckie and Brian Higgins.

Luckie pleaded guilty in July to mail fraud and Williams pleaded guilty in September to accepting a thing of value in connection with a local government.

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by the FBI, Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) and the Ohio Auditor of State’s Office, as well as assistant United States Attorneys Brent G. Tabacchi, SaMee Harden and Dominick S. Gerace, who are representing the United States in this case.

An indictment merely contains allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

If you have any information related to the schemes alleged above, please contact the FBI’s Dayton Public Corruption Tip Line at 937-291-5222.

Contact:
jennifer.thornton@usdoj.gov