News 12 at 6 o'clock / Friday, Jan. 27, 2012

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Richmond County investigators are now revealing the details in what they describe as an employee-run scheme that swindled T-Mobile out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Deputies arrested Kenneth Gorham and Shantae Evans after a month-long investigation. They say the two employees were the masterminds behind the plot to use T-Mobile's employee tuition reimbursement plan to steal money.

An internal investigator with T-Mobile tipped off deputies to the case in December.

"We haven't had a case like that in quite some time, if at all. To be honest, I've never heard of anything like this," Lt. Calvin Chew said.

Chew says Evans filed tuition reimbursement at the call center on Wheeler Road so she understood the system. He says she picked the real-life online Herzing University as the school for employees to pretend to attend.

Gorham, investigators say, acted as the recruiter. They say he was able to get at least 20 employees from the call center to participate in the scheme. Deputies say that in return for Gorham and Evans' services, employees were supposed to give them a cut of their reimbursement checks.

"But usually when you get so many people involved is when you usually get caught," Chew said.

Both suspects are out on bond. They are charged with five counts of theft by deception but investigators say they could be charged with other crimes as well. Deputies also say the employees who participated in the scheme could also face charges.

Deputies and federal agents are continuing to investigate this case.