ST. LOUIS — A St. Peters man admitted on Tuesday to defrauding Webster University and its information technology (IT) supplier of more than $2 million, according to a statement from the United States Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of Missouri.
The former IT director of Webster University, 54-year-old Ronald Simpson, pleaded guilty to one felony count of wire fraud.
The United States Attorney's Office didn't name the university that Simpson defrauded, but a statement from Webster University said Simpson was employed there until September of 2023.
See the full statement from Webster University at the bottom of this article.
Simpson was responsible for repairing and replacing defective IT gear at "his employer's multiple locations," according to the statement from the United States Attorney's Office.
"Beginning about Nov. 29, 2018, Simpson devised a scheme to enrich himself at the expense of the University and their equipment supplier," the statement said. "After receiving approval to purchase hundreds of items of IT equipment by falsely claiming the equipment would be used or installed at university locations, Simpson sold that equipment to a third-party."
That part of the scheme got Simpson at least $1 million from the university.
"He also fraudulently obtained 56 items from the university’s IT supplier by falsely claiming that the equipment they originally had supplied was defective," the statement said. "Simpson then sold both the original equipment and the replacement gear."
A total of $780,233 worth of replacement equipment was sent to the university based on Simpson's false claims.
Simpson received, in total, $2,188,704 for the equipment.
His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 17. He faces up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.
The FBI investigated the case.
Statement from Webster University
At Webster University, we expect our employees to conduct their job responsibilities according to the highest ethical standards. Last year, we became aware of, and concerned about, actions by Ronald D. Simpson, who at the time held a position in the University’s Information Technology department. Upon learning this information, we promptly notified federal law enforcement. Following a thorough investigation, Mr. Simpson’s employment relationship with the University ended in September 2023.
Today, Mr. Simpson has pled guilty to federal criminal charges. While we are not able to comment on this ongoing law enforcement proceeding, the crimes for which Mr. Simpson has admitted guilt represent intentional deception and deliberate violations of numerous policies and procedures that he was required to follow. We look forward to seeing this matter addressed through the justice system.
Over the past several months, we have enhanced purchasing procedures, protocols and audits to strengthen protections against this type of misconduct in the future.
