Former state employee indicted on charges she stole $1.8M from government

Department of Social Services retiree Lonna Carroll arrested in Iowa Monday

Flanked by fellow law enforcement officials, Attorney General Marty Jackley announces during a Sioux Falls press conference that charges have been brought against a former state employee for allegedly stealing about $1.8M. (Jonathan Ellis/The Dakota Scout)

A former employee of South Dakota’s Department of Social Services has been indicted for a purported embezzlement scheme involving nearly $1.8 million from state and federal government entities.

Attorney General Marty Jackley announced at a press conference in Sioux Falls Thursday that former state employee Lonna Carroll was arrested at her Algona, Iowa home Monday, and charged with two felony counts of aggravated grand theft.

According to Jackley, as an employee at the Department of Social Services (DSS) for over 13 years, Carroll would request money from the Child Protection Services for a particular child. After that request was made, Carroll - who was in a managerial position to give approval to funding requests within the department - would do so. DSS’s financial department and the State Auditor’s Office would sign off on the transactions, the latter of which would issue a check. Carroll would intercept the funds, place them in the bank that they were intended for, and then eventually transfer them to her own personal account.

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