Date: March 4, 2025
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ST. LOUIS — A couple who ran a local non-profit were arrested Tuesday after having been accused in an indictment of stealing more than $7 million that was supposed to feed low-income Missouri children.
FBI special agents also seized a pickup truck, two vans and a minivan that were purchased with what the indictment calls fraudulently-obtained funds.
Diarra Williams and Nicholas Warford both of Edwardsville, Illinois, are scheduled to enter a not guilty plea Tuesday afternoon.
Both were indicted on Feb. 26 with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, six counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of obstruction of an official proceeding.
The indictment says the couple defrauded Missouri’s At-Risk Afterschool Program and Summer Food Service Program, which are funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Meals are served by schools and non-profit organizations. Williams ran a non-profit called The Bailey Foundation, which fraudulently claimed it served more than 2.2 million meals, the indictment says. Williams and Warford then laundered the meal money through a company owned by Warford, Warford’s Classic Catering LLC, by creating fake invoices that showed meal purchases that were never made, the indictment says.
The indictment says the scheme lasted from March 2020 through July 2022. An April 2021 invoice falsely claimed that 208,456 meals were served, each of which included an eight-ounce serving of milk, the indictment says. Warford’s company bought no milk and paid less than $5,000 for food, it says.
The indictment says Williams and Warford used the money to buy a $1.4 million home in Edwardsville, a 2018 Lincoln Navigator, a 2019 Ram 1500 Rebel pickup, a 2011 Mercedes Benz Sprinter, a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica and two 2021 Ram Promaster vans. They also spent $140,000 on extravagant vacations, $100,000 on furniture, home electronics and landscaping for their new home, more than $50,000 in school tuition payments and $460,000 on Warford's mother, the indictment says.
The couple falsely claimed in reports to the state that they’d spent the money on feeding children and told the IRS that their lavish spending represented legitimate business expenses of Warford’s company, the indictment says. They also tried to impede the investigation by producing phony invoices in response to a federal grand jury subpoena, the indictment says.
The indictment seeks the forfeiture of vehicles and the couple’s home.
Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
“The defendants are accused of stealing money meant to feed low-income school-aged children and using the funds to live a lavish lifestyle. It’s hard to put into words how egregious these accusations are,” said IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) St. Louis, Special Agent in Charge William Steenson. “But this arrest means their actions have been disrupted and they can now be held accountable.”
“The alleged fraud is beyond despicable,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. “The defendants allegedly stole millions in taxpayer dollars meant to feed low-income children in Missouri for their own use.”
The IRS – CI, FBI, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman is prosecuting the case.
IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.