Prosecutors Add Bogus Timesheet Charges in Woodpile Case

Prosecutors added nine new federal charges against the St. Croix couple accused of working with a former V.I. Housing Finance Authority executive to bilk $4 million from taxpayers through a contract to store wood for hurricane recovery.

On Thursday, a judge ordered them to court Friday afternoon for arraignment and advice of rights by U.S. Magistrate Judge Emile A. Henderson III. In addition to money laundering conspiracy, husband and wife Davidson and Sasha Charlemagne were charged Tuesday with making false claims upon the United States. Prosecutors allege Sasha Charlemagne submitted timesheets to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from July 2021 through October 2023, claiming she was working eight hours a day at woodpiles in the territory. In fact, according to court records, Charlemagne was not even in the Virgin Islands at the time.

Davidson Charlemagne had previously been charged with wire fraud in the alleged scheme and fraud related to receiving federal funds. Prosecutors allege Sasha Charlemagne used some of the fraudulently acquired money to spend lavishly on credit cards. She allegedly made payments to her American Express card totally nearly $38,500 in July 2022 and again in August 2022. In September, V.I. District Court Judge Wilma A. Lewis ruled the Charlemagnes’ case could be separated from their alleged co-conspirator, former VIHFA Chief Operating Officer Darin Richardson. Richardson has been charged with criminal conflict of interest and making false statements by allegedly lying to HUD investigators about recusing himself from contracts related to the woodpiles.