Halvor Hart III was arrested Tuesday, and Raphello Harris was arrested Thursday for fraudulent use of a government credit card, the V.I. Police Department announced Tuesday.
Both men were also charged with embezzlement, among other charges.
According to the police affidavit, Hart, 43, and Harris, 39, used a V.I. government-issued Home Depot credit card belonging to the Department of Property and Procurement to make unauthorized purchases valued at more than $30,000.
Hart was assigned the credit card when he was Property and Procurement’s deputy commissioner and continued making fraudulent purchases on the credit card after he was relieved of his position in December, the police statement said.
The fraud was exposed after bills from the hardware store were received by Property and Procurement’s commissioner, who determined the items were charged without going through the proper procedures and without the commissioner’s approval.
Bail for both Hart and Harris was set at $35,000, and they were remanded to the Bureau of Corrections pending further court action.
