ST. LOUIS – The owner of a St. Louis nonprofit is accused of defrauding the Missouri government of millions of dollars that were intended to be used to feed low-income Missouri children before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said Cymone McClellan, 31, owned and operated the nonprofit Sister of Lavender Rose (SOLR). From January 2019 to June 2022, McClellan filed phony reimbursement claims to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) as part of the Food and Nutrition Programs for Children.
The indictment alleges McClellan claimed to have served 860,876 meals to children but only bought enough food and milk to feed fewer than a quarter of those meals. As a result, she defrauded the state out of more than $2 million.
McClellan provided fake sign-in sheets for meal recipients and food distribution locations and submitted fraudulent management plans claiming the Missouri funds were being spent properly, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors said McClellan used $60,000 in state money to make a down payment on a home in Collinsville, Illinois, a home in Florissant, Missouri, and these five vehicles: a 2021 Chevrolet Traverse, a 2012 Chevrolet Express G3500 van, a 2020 Mercedes-Benz Metris van, a 2012 Ford E350 box truck, and a 2018 Lexus RX SUV.
In addition, prosecutors said one of the addresses McClellan claimed was used to prepare the meals for low-income children was actually an adults-only nightclub called Elmo’s Love Lounge.
McClellan was charged with four counts of wire fraud. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.
