County worker says she took bribes
Money came to clear liens on unpaid child support
A Milwaukee County child support worker admitted falsely releasing dozens of liens for unpaid child support in exchange for $50 bribes via a cellphone payment app, according to court records.
Daneen Marie Pope, 45, of Milwaukee, told investigators she made about $8,000 via the scheme because her county salary wasn’t enough, according to a search warrant in the case. The warrant indicated the suspected offenses of theft and misconduct in public office, each a felony.
Pope was arrested in September at the courthouse. Prosecutors said earlier this month that they don’t expect to file formal charges of theft or misconduct in public office until 2022, because the investigation is ongoing.
Pope told investigators she took $50 payments to clear the liens, often from a pair of towing companies that couldn’t destroy or sell vehicles with active child support liens. Sometimes, Pope indicated in the computer system that $50 had been paid, but never processed those payments.
According to the search warrant: A July audit within Child Support Services found Pope had released way more vehicle liens in 2020 and 2021 than the two employees staffed full time to address vehicle liens.
Pope’s job as a case manager was to monitor caseloads for appropriate enforcement actions, interview participants, lawyers and others, evaluate reports, update data and sometimes prepare legal documents. She was also authorized to negotiate lien payments with parents who owed money, and to release liens in instances where payments were actually made toward debts.
Pope was paid about $39,949 in 2020, and had been in the job since 2011, except for a few months when she worked for Rock County child support services in 2017.
Pope’s releases weren’t properly documented within KIDS, the statewide child support information system, including two she made in other counties.
Some of the releases included backdating the liens and changing the lien holder from Child Support Services to “Advanced America.”
Pope told an investigator she got paid $25 each for a towing company owner for releasing about two dozen liens under Advanced America and the names of other financial institutions.
Records in the investigation also showed Pope had twice released liens against her son.
Minutes show the County Personnel Review Board voted unanimously to uphold Pope’s discharge on Sept. 13, the day she was arrested. She could not be reached Monday; several phone numbers were either disconnected, had changed or had no voice mail option.
A person who answered one number hung up when a reporter asked for Pope.