CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A manager at the Westlake office of a statewide nonprofit agency that serves people with developmental disabilities stole thousands of dollars from clients, according to an indictment issued this week.
Ryan Tevepaugh, 31, of Aurora, is accused of taking more than $10,000 from the accounts of eight people who received services from RMS of Ohio, a Columbus-area organization with eight offices around the state.
Tevepaugh, who is charged with felony theft, tampering with records and money laundering, is set for an Aug. 1 arraignment in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
Tevepaugh is identified in court records as an employee of the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities, but at the time of the indictment Tevepaugh was director of operations at RMS of Ohio's Northeast Ohio office on Center Ridge Road in Westlake. He is not affiliated with the board, Marie Barni, spokeswoman for the board, said.
Tevepaugh and representatives of RMS could not be immediately be reached for comment Thursday.
RMS of Ohio is certified by the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities.
Part of the office manager's job is to manage the personal money of some of the clients, like paying bills or buying groceries, Barni said.
The Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities, which investigates local complaints for the state board, got an anonymous tip about some discrepancies about how the Westlake office handled clients' money. It launched a probe earlier this year, Barni said.
Investigators found that Tevepaugh withdrew more than $1,000 at a time from the clients' bank accounts, but was not providing receipts or documentation about how that money was being spent, Barni said.
They also found that Tevepaugh bought items for himself using clients' accounts, including a grill and a patio furniture set, Barni said.
The goods were delivered to Tevepaugh's Aurora home, instead of the client's house whose account was used to buy them, and stayed at Tevepaugh's home for more than 90 days, Barni said.
Tevepaugh transferred the items to the client's home after he was told of the investigation, Barni said.
Tevepaugh was placed on leave when the allegations surfaced and was eventually fired from RMS of Ohio, Barni said.
To comment on this story, please visit Thursday's crime and courts comments page.
Note: The Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities provided the incorrect job title for Ryan Tevepaugh when the above story was originally published. The story has been corrected to reflect that Tevepaugh was the director of operations at RMS of Ohio's Northeast Ohio office in Westlake. Tevepaugh pleaded guilty in October 2017 to a single count of theft, a third-degree felony. As part of his plea deal, Tevepaugh agreed to never work with elderly or disabled persons again, according to court records. He spent a month in prison and was released in January 2018 into a court re-entry program that he successfully completed in December.