Former Kennedy aide charged with defrauding Senate of $75,000 in pay

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Ex-Kennedy aide charged with defrauding Senate

WASHINGTON — A former office manager for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy has been charged with conspiring to defraud the Senate of more than $75,000 in pay and bonuses.

Authorities charge that 39-year-old Ngozi T. Pole filled out paperwork to improperly boost his salary and bonus payments. He has been charged with wire fraud and theft of government property.

Investigators say that neither the late senator nor his chief of staff approved the additional payments and that Kennedy’s office has cooperated fully with the probe.

The fraud allegedly ran from at least 2003 to 2007. The maximum possible prison sentence for wire fraud is 20 years.