Ten Allegedly Scam American Electric Power

• {Charleston, West Virginia}...Ten Kanawha Valley residents are facing federal charges for allegedly scamming American Electric Power out of $598,485 with fraudulent power surge claims alleging AEP was responsible for property damage. Karen Hodges, 39,  of St. Albans, Jonathan Schaffer of Charleston, 32, of Charleston, 24 year old Tiffany Schaffer of Poca, 23 year old Bryan Javins of Nitro and Jeanette Boggs, 58, of Nitro were indicted on conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud as well as individual acts of mail fraud. The alleged ringleader of the group, Deborah Farmer, 48, of Winfield, a former employee of AEP, allegedly arranged for the group to file the claims with the company between March 2009 and March 2010. Farmer is charged with filing those claims from her AEP office or a home computer. Investigators say once the damage checks arrived, ranging from $2,000 to $9,000, the five split the money with Farmer. Informations were also filed against Julia Washington, Mark Ingram, Crystal Ingram and Freda Bradshaw relating to the same scheme. Those involved in the scheme face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count.