PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Two brothers and former employees of the City of Philadelphia are accused of misusing city bank accounts to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of seven years.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Leo and Paul Dignam defrauded the city of a combined $269,000 between 2012 and 2019, during which they were both senior officials with the city.
Over his 38 years with the city, Leo Dignam served as assistant managing director and deputy commissioner of Parks and Recreation, where he oversaw major city events, including the Philadelphia Marathon, the Broad Street Run and the Mummers Parade.
He allegedly misused two city bank accounts designated for Parks and Recreation programs. He is accused of spending that money — $150,000 — on family members, groceries, gas, online shopping, Verizon Wireless services, and more.
One bank account was purportedly for a Parks and Rec-related nonprofit, the Junior Baseball Federation, a youth program that partners with the Phillies.
Paul Dignam also worked with Parks and Recreation as a regional manager. U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain said he opened a Parks and Rec-related bank account in 2011, meant to raise funds to maintain rec centers and playgrounds. He started writing checks for himself from that account the following year, up through 2019.
Paul Dignam allegedly mailed the bank statements to his house to conceal the fraud. In all, he wrote more than 100 checks for himself — under the guise of being reimbursements for expenses — worth around $119,000.
Both brothers are charged with embezzling from a program that receives federal funds. Sixty-one-year-old Leo Dignam is also charged with wire fraud, and 58-year-old Paul Dignam is charged with mail fraud.
A third person, 61-year-old Barbara Conway, is charged with theft. As the food voucher coordinator for the Philadelphia Health Management Corporation (PHMC) — an agency contracted by the city to manage its Food Voucher Program — McSwain said Conway stole $39,000 worth of food vouchers.
“All three of these defendants allegedly made the same bad choice to steal funds from federally funded programs,” McSwain said in a statement. “The defendants stole money from programs designed to benefit groups that desperately needed the assistance.”
If convicted, Leo Dignam faces a maximum sentence of 50 years. Paul Dignam faces a maximum of 30 years, and Conway faces a maximum of 10 years.