Three more charged with defrauding Hewitt

Three more former Hewitt Associates employees have been arrested and charged with forgery and theft for scamming tuition reimbursements out of the Lincolnshire company.

Police said they arrested Alexia C. Dennis, 25 of 14915 Riverside Drive, South Holland, Kevin J. Dansby, 29, of 2747 N. Augusta Drive, Wadsworth, and Lisa R. White, 39, of 8120 S. Kedzie Avenue, Chicago. Dansby and White are charged with class three felony theft, while Dennis was charged with a class two felony theft. All three also were charged with forgery, a class three felony.

Each suspect is free after posting a $2,500 recognizance bond, officials said. Dansby is due in court Oct. 20, while court dates for Dennis and White are unknown at this time. If convicted of the charges, each could spend up to three years behind bars.

In all 11 former Hewitt employees have been charged since Sept. 23 with using an in-house continuing education program to bilk the company out of at least $100,000, police said.

The company's continuing education program opens the door for employees to be reimbursed up to $5,000 by Hewitt annually to return to college to further their education.

Police said the suspects either: never applied for education courses but turned in paperwork saying they did; applied for but never completed the classes but turned in paperwork showing the course was finished; or changed grades on report cards to ensure the company would reimburse their expenses.

Hewitt officials discovered the problem and contacted police, officials said.

Police added the investigation is continuing and additional arrests are expected.

The scam was not organized, police say, but the employees involved were friends. The money was paid out by Hewitt since October 2005.