Former executive of Virginia benefit program charged with stealing $4.8 million

A Virginia man was arrested this week and charged with embezzling more than $4.8 million from a Virginia-based birth-injury program.

John Hunter Raines, 38, of Providence Forge, was the chief financial officer and deputy director of the Richmond-based Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program.

Raines was arrested Thursday and has been charged in a criminal complaint with felony fraud.

The program is a fund administered by the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission that pays money to families of infants who suffer from brain or spinal cord injuries resulting from the birth process that render the infant developmentally and/or cognitively disabled. While it is an independent organization, all nine board members are appointed by the governor.

According to court documents, Raines’ role required that he oversee the finances of the program including approximately $650 million in investments in 2023.

From January 2022 through October 2023, Raines allegedly stole millions from the program initiating at least 59 separate wire transactions to bank accounts in his name. Raines also allegedly used the program debit card for personal gain.

According to the criminal complaint, Raines allegedly spent the money on various personal expenses including:

• Vehicles including eight luxury golf carts for more than $160,000 and a 2023 Chevrolet Suburban
• $100,000 or more on gambling, including at Rivers Casino in Portsmouth, Colonial Downs Racetrack in New Kent and the Virginia Lottery
• $9,000 or more to hire private limousines including to chauffer Raines and his guests to Virginia-area vineyards
• Purchases of cryptocurrency and transferred funds to his brokerage accounts
• $30,000 for private jet travel to take his wife and friends to Nashville, Tenn., for three days
• $60,000 to pay down his student loan debt, his mortgage and other loans
• $19,000 to purchase eight separate American Gold Eagle Bullion coins and a 100-ounce silver bar

If convicted, Raines faces up to 20 years in prison.