Feds: Fayetteville woman spent a decade defrauding the government out of $2.2 million

A Fayetteville woman used 45 aliases and more than a dozen business entities to defraud the government out of $2.2 million.

From 2011 to 2020, Stephanie Dianna Elliott falsified documents saying that she had shipped supplies to the U.S. military, even though she hadn't.

Businesses associated with her name "were debarred from federal contracting on four occasions," according to the U.S. Department of Defense. She found ways around the disbarment and was able to continue defrauding the U.S. military.

Court records show Elliott also was able to gain contracts with North Carolina and other states. She obtained contracts to provide food and other goods to state governments, according to federal officials. Then, she reached out to third-party vendors to help her supply the goods to the state governments.

The DOJ said instead of paying the vendors, as she was contractually required to, she took the money for herself.

"She evaded safeguards designed to ensure our warfighters receive the high-quality products and services they depend on to effectively meet their global mission,” said Christopher Dillard, special agent with the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General.