Virginia Man Charged With Misuse Of Government Credit Card

1125 Chapline Street, Federal Building, Suite 3000 ● Wheeling, WV 26003
(304) 234-0100 ● Contact: Chris Zumpetta-Parr, Public Affairs Specialist

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – A former supervisor with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been charged with misusing his government-issued credit card at a West Virginia casino.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced that GENE PROTOGIANNIS, 55 years old of Lovettsville, Virginia, was indicted on forty-five counts of wire fraud. The acts are alleged to have occurred in 2013 when PROTOGIANNIS used his official government credit card to obtain cash advances at the Hollywood Casino in Charles Town, West Virginia. The total amount of cash alleged to have been withdrawn by PROTOGIANNIS at the casino was $115,853.55.

PROTOGIANNIS, who will appear in Federal Court in Martinsburg on April 16, 2014, at 9:30 for his initial appearance, faces up to twenty years in prison along with a fine of up to $250,000 on each count. The actual sentence imposed will be based upon the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and the criminal history of the PROTOGIANNIS, if any. An indictment is only an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

PROTOGIANNIS was the Acting Director of the Tactical Operations Division for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, at the time that these crimes allegedly occurred.

The case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Paul T. Camilletti and was investigated by the West Virginia State Police.

U.S. Attorney Ihlenfeld urges anyone with information regarding public corruption in their community to call the West Virginia Public Corruption Hotline at 855-WVA-FEDS (1-855-982-3337), or to send an email to wvafeds@usdoj.gov.