Former restaurant owner indicted on embezzlement

Published 8:48 pm Monday, September 11, 2017

JACKSON (AP) — A former Mississippi restaurant owner accused of embezzling child support money from an employee has been indicted.

The Clarion-Ledger reported Friday that Patrick Kelly, owner of the defunct Mint and Julep restaurants, was indicted on a charged of embezzlement of child support money from Charles Wiggins.

Wiggins had his wages garnished by the Mississippi Department of Human Services to pay his monthly child support payments from 2013 to 2015. According to court documents, Kelly deducted nearly $13,000 from Wiggins’ salary, but only sent $2,000 to MDHS and pocketed the rest.

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Earlier this year, a judge ordered a $100,000 punitive fine against Kelly and ordered him to repay the stolen child support funds. Kelly is appealing the ruling.