YIKES! FBI!!!!!!!! WOWSA!
The U.S. Justice Department has another explanation for the wealth of Kevin Brian Cox, 38. He is one of three men accused in May of defrauding the federal Lifeline phone program of $32.4 million by exaggerating how many customers qualified for a subsidy because they were poor.
As the men await trial or a plea deal, the Justice Department has tied up their assets, including luxury cars, a yacht, bank accounts and real estate.
None of that seems like good news to people waiting on paychecks at Cox's call centers in El Salvador, where gas is more than $4 a gallon and employees make $400 to $600 a month if paid.
The money stopped coming after Cox was indicted April 9 by a federal grand jury in Tampa, employees say.
"We need to feed our families," worker Yashi Valmir Lima, 36, wrote in an email to the Tampa Bay Times. "So please if you have any info, share it with us."
Karen Flores, single mother of a 4-year-old boy, says her utility bills are late and she can no longer afford public transportation to look for a job. She worked for Cox's company, Benson Communications, for nearly five years.
"It's hard to tell your kid that we have to eat the same thing every day because mommy is not getting paid," she wrote.
They and other employees describe Benson Communications as a company that once treated them well and allowed them to feel like a big family. They remember Cox throwing them lavish parties and taking a cake to the face in fun.
His attorney, Lance Wade, declined to comment on the call center pay situation, which has also caused problems at a sister center in capital city San Salvador.
