The former chief operating officer of the Jackson Health Foundation has pled guilty to embezzlement over $4 million from the nonprofit over a decade, federal prosecutors announced.
Charmaine Gatlin, 52, pleaded guilty on September 11 to defrauding the Jackson Health System Foundation by submitting fake invoices, steering funds to herself and relatives, and accepting kickbacks from vendors.
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Prosecutors claimed Gatlin approved approximately $2 million in invoices for services never provided by a Georgia-based audiovisual company.
In exchange, she received $1 million in kickbacks, some of which was used to cover her personal credit card bills.
According to authorities, Gatlin reportedly authorized a merchandising vendor to purchase costly things from Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Apple on her behalf, while continuing to grant the vendor contracts with the Foundation.
Court documents further detail Gatlin’s misuse of limited donations, including $55,000 in Foundation cash for hundreds of “first aid kits” that were mislabeled as trauma burn giveaways.
Prosecutors allege that in 2023, she utilized a fake invoice to cover the purchase of a rose gold golf cart delivered to her Weston home.
The plan lasted from 2014 until 2024, and Gatlin was paid between $185,000 and $290,000, according to authorities.
A co-conspirator, vendor Yergan Jones, has also admitted to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with the scam.
Gatlin is due to be sentenced on November 25 by U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom. She is facing up to 20 years in prison.
