After high-dollar fraud cases, do victims get their money back?

ST. LOUIS (First Alert 4) - A former St. Louis building inspector is headed to prison after admitting to taking millions in taxpayer money. A judge has ordered Adebanjo Popoola to serve time and repay the money.

In federal court, the punishment is usually prison time. But time and again, restitution is ordered as well. So First Alert 4 Investigates started asking: how does the government get that money back?

Siddharth Jawahar was sentenced in September to 11 years in federal prison for a Ponzi scheme that involved more than 60 victims and more than $30 million. The victims included Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, other athletes and investors.

Prosecutors said Jawahar used investors’ money to pay for private jets, luxury hotels, memberships to private clubs and spending sprees at stores and restaurants. A judge ordered him to pay more than $31 million in restitution.

In a jail call before sentencing that was played in court, Jawahar said he was “not worried” about restitution. He said he knows “it will get commuted.”

But Tom Albus, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, told First Alert 4 Investigates that an entire team works to recoup funds from criminal cases.

Asked what is on the table when it comes to forfeiture, including cars, houses and bank accounts, Albus said, “Basically anything ... as long as it’s in the name of the offender.”

Another local example is Bretton Delaria. He was sentenced to two years in prison in 2022 for embezzling more than $500,000 from Saint Louis University. He used some of the money to put a pool at his home in Benton Park West.

That home was seized and sold as part of restitution. Delaria still owes more.

Albus said the exact plans to recoup restitution are not public.

Delaria now works as a public information officer for the St. Louis City Department of Public Safety. Albus said that is a good thing.

“This person committed a serious fraud. But it’s good that they’re employed and it’s good that they are able to have income to, among other things, support themselves and to pay down the restitution,” Albus said. “So we encourage that.”

Popoola will have to come up with restitution after he serves his time in prison. The victim in his case is the taxpayer.

Albus said collecting restitution is not always easy in many cases. Jawahar was recently ordered to sell and transfer financial assets worth $3 million. How the rest will be collected from him remains to be seen.

Albus said money for restitution has often vanished long before a defendant’s arrest.

“We do our best on restitution,” Albus said. “But the truth is, a large percentage of the amount that folks are defrauded never gets paid back. That’s just reality.”

Delaria is on supervised release, also known as probation. Albus said that if Delaria fails to make restitution payments, he could be ordered back to prison.

Saint Louis University declined to comment.

Delaria referred questions to St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer’s office. A spokesperson said Delaria is a “valued and talented” city employee. The spokesperson said she did not see how his personal life has any bearing on the story about federal cases and government policies. The office otherwise did not comment.

Popoola’s attorney said the former building inspector is committed to repaying his debt to the community by serving his sentence and working to pay restitution afterward.