Former Kinloch mayor Darren Small under trial again

Kinloch mo mayor Darren Small and his wife charged with wire fraud

We had witnessed former Kinloch mo mayor, Darren Small being convicted before in 2011 and 2013. This time, he has again made his third time in queue for the similar fraud. This time his wife is also charged with the fraud.

In 2011, there were charges against him for using the public money for his personal use. He wasted that money on his personal expenses which included vacations and an aberrant federal tax bill. He was found guilty and was given a sentence of 21 months. The charges against him included theft from a federal program, wire fraud and witness tampering. He was also ordered to pay back $62,429.

Again in 2013, he was charged with committing the same crime. He pleaded guilty but was unable to hide his wrongful method of using district’s money. The federal investigators accused him of using that money for his own usage. That time as well, he was sentenced for 33 months in prison. That time he paid $259,738 which he robbed from district and for disability payments.

All these consequences did not stop him from repeating the scam again this time. This time his wife shook hands with him in the fraud. He has already turned 50 and his wife is 39. They teamed up in making this fraud a success but were captured red handed last Friday. This time they have been charged of wire fraud from fire protection department.

They both work for this department. While Darren Small works as the chief of the Kinloch Fire Protection District, his wife works as the president of the fire district’s board. They have been charged of using the funds that were for fire protection department for their personal use. This has been ongoing since Dec 2013 till this month.

Jayna Small, wife of Darren Small withdrew $7200 from the bank which she paid for utility vehicle and has confessed that she helped her relative with that money for funeral. She didn’t take approval from the board.

This is not it. They used more than $1,200 to pay for the groceries and bills on their personal electric and Gas accounts. The payment was done through the debit card from the fire district’s account.

They also invest amount on clothes and other expenses. The board is still waiting to uncover all the details of the funds they used. The affidavit is already filed against them which has accused them for access device fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy. This time they have gotten themselves into bigger trouble and looking at their past records, I feel they will not be given an easy gateway.