5 US assistant attorneys in SC to be honored

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Five assistant U.S. attorneys in South Carolina are being recognized for their roles in obtaining convictions and recovering more than $1 million from people who falsely received federal stimulus money from the Department of Energy.

U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles says the five South Carolina prosecutors are part of a team receiving a 2011 Award for Excellence in Investigations by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.

The Department of Energy awarded stimulus money to the Savannah River Site to hire contractors for nuclear waste cleanup projects. Investigators found some of the contractors submitted inflated expense reports. Nettles said the individual amounts were small but eventually added up to millions of dollars.

So far, three people have received criminal convictions, and three entered a pretrial diversion program.