Richmond Public Works employee, wife plead guilty to fraud, $225K loss to city

A former senior manager at the City of Richmond Department of Public Works and his wife pleaded guilty July 19 to defrauding the city after a scheme involving straw companies and straw bids with the couple profiting from the contracts.

According to court documents, Michael Evins, 67, used his position within DPW, a governmental entity responsible for providing engineering, technical and administrative services to Richmond residents, to steer governmental contracts towards himself and his co-conspirators, including his wife, Samaria Evins, 52.

A co-conspirator, Shaun Lindsey, a senior administrative technician at DPW, previously pled guilty in the same scheme on May 9.

From 2016 through 2021, Michael Evins and Samaria Evins took steps to defraud the DPW, according to court documents.

First, Samaria Evins and other co-conspirators created and operated straw companies to bid on DPW work.

Second, Michael Evins designated and approved DPW work to be performed by these straw companies using his position at DPW, circumventing Virginia law and City of Richmond rules against self-dealing by public employees. In some instances, the work to be performed was completely fabricated, and no such work was ever needed. In other instances, the work was actually performed by DPW employees, not by contracted vendors. Sometimes, Samaria Evins and other co-conspirators subcontracted the work out for profit upon winning the DPW work.

Third, where procurement amounts exceeded $5,000, a DPW approval threshold requiring that work be competitively bid, Michael Evins and his co-conspirators manufactured fictitious straw bids on behalf of competitor companies to engineer the preferred company winning the work.

Finally, upon receiving DPW funds, Samaria Evins and other co-conspirators paid Michael Evins a portion of the proceeds.

For example, in 2019, DPW sought to have overgrown foliage at Parker Field cleared in advance of Fourth of July celebrations. Though Michael Evins knew mowing of the field was being performed by DPW employees, he nevertheless approved a requisition in the DPW purchase order system for a company owned by Samaria Evins to mow the entire area 16 times in four days at a total cost of $4,800.

In all, Michael Evins, Samaria Evins, and their co-conspirators fraudulently caused DPW to disburse at least $603,701 in funds to companies owned by Samaria Evins and her co-conspirators, causing an estimated $226,767 in loss to DPW.

Michael Evins and Samaria Evins are scheduled to be sentenced on November 7. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. She faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison.