BY KYLE LOVERN
MOUNTAN CITIZEN

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A former Mingo County resident admitted to defrauding a charitable nonprofit organization out of nearly $900,000.

Benjamin Cisco, 30, now of Charleston, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud May 23.

Cisco faces a maximum of 40 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $500,000 fine. His sentence is scheduled for Sept. 13.

Court documents stated that between March 19, 2020, and Sept. 28, 2022, Cisco defrauded the nonprofit organization while employed as its finance and operations manager in Belle and Charleston. Cisco was able to control the charity’s finances and had access to its debit cards.

Cisco said his scheme followed a two-step process. First, he would electronically transfer money from the organization’s debit cards to its account with the Flipcause crowdfunding platform. Flipcause recorded the transfers as donations. Next, Cisco transferred the money from the Flipcause account to his personal bank account.

Cisco admitted to making separate transactions of $4,724 on Jan. 28, 2022, and $2,874 on May 6, 2022, from the Flipcause account to his bank account. He further admitted to conducting the two-step process over 100 times.

At least $518,101.70 was lost from the victim charity. Cisco also said he took an additional $285,626.64 in unauthorized travel reimbursements and $67,560 in purchased gift cards. The total loss is $871,288.34, which Cisco owes in restitution.

United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement.