A former City of San Francisco employee was arrested Thursday for allegedly funneling over half a million dollars of city funds into his own pockets, San Francisco’s Office of the City Attorney announced in a press release.
Stanley Ellicott was charged after allegedly establishing a bogus company to defraud the city and pocket over $600,000. Ellicott was previously charged in another scam and is now facing new charges, according to the press release. Ellicott’s alleged scheme involved the creation of a fictitious company, through which he allegedly redirected $627,000 of city funds during his tenure.
As a Department of Human Resources employee, he allegedly exploited his position managing workers’ compensation claims and setting up a secluded financial account for fraudulent activities, according to the San Francisco Standard. Payments intended for legitimate claims were reportedly siphoned off to this fake company, which he portrayed as a vendor in the city’s workers’ compensation system, billing for nonexistent auditing services on over 600 claims.
“I am disgusted and angered by the actions taken by Mr. Ellicott,” said Human Resources Director, Carol Isen, according to the news release. “He took advantage of his colleagues and the public to benefit himself. There is no excuse or place for this type of behavior in City government.”
After the charges were filed against Ellicott Jan. 2024, collaborative measures were implemented to address and close the internal control weaknesses that enabled the suspected fraud and abuse within the department’s subsystem, the news release said.
“The abuse Mr. Ellicott is charged with is reprehensible, not least because he was in a position of authority,” said Controller Greg Wagner, the news release stated. “The quick, coordinated efforts of DHR, the City Attorney’s Office, and the Controller’s Office have been effective — the City has already implemented new safeguards to close the payment controls loophole that allowed this to happen.”
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