Let’s say you worked for the Public Works Department in your county or town and you and a co-worker devised an Office Space-like scam wherein you’d skim money off the top of surplus equipment sales. Would you save that money, or would you spend it? And if you spent it, how would you spend it?

For a pair of City of Milwaukee employees, the answers were: (a) spend it, and (b) at a casino. And it helped that said casino was within walking distance of their place of work.

As first reported by Urban Milwaukee, for four months in 2022, Kyle Hepp and Kelly Whitmore-Behling sold $392,861 worth of equipment for $136,000 to an individual identified as R.G. and a handful of other buyers.

In one especially egregious sale, R.G. purchased 22 pallets of materials, six pieces of welding equipment, and a new replacement fuel tank for a city-owned truck from Hepp and Whitmore-Behling. The equipment was valued at $53,186, but city records reflect that R.G. only bought three welders for $150 in this particular instance. 

All told, R.G. purchased 74 items, valued at $315,850, for just $35,100, leaving Hepp and Whitmore-Behling with some $100,000 in embezzled profits.

Mysterious buyer not charged

Hepp and Whitmore-Behling worked at the city’s Central Repair Garage, which is just west of Potawatomi Casino. According to a court filing, the pair “gambled excessively” at the casino before they were caught.

They both lost their jobs in December 2022 and signed plea agreements in December of last year and March of this year, respectively. While sentencing dates have not been set, each individual is facing up to 15 years in prison and a combined $357,511 in restitution and fines.

The mysterious R.G. is not currently facing charges, although he reportedly made a “significant profit” from the scheme.

Photo: Fairfax Media via Getty Images.