BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Twin brothers were indicted after stealing over $800,000 from the state in a money-laundering scheme.

Robert McCormick, former State of Louisiana Office of the State Fire Marshal employee, and Thomas McCormick of McCormick Law Firm, LLC face indictment charges of fraud, money laundering, racketeering and felony theft.

The scheme took place while the state was dealing with the aftermath of several hurricanes.

According to indictment documents, the McCormick brothers created fake companies to funnel a total of $824,760 in state dollars to themselves for personal use. Thirty-two invoices were paid over the course of eight months — from Aug. 30, 2020 to April 28, 2021.

Five other individuals were also connected to the money-laundering scheme.

Robert McCormick and Thomas McCormick are currently in custody at the West Baton Rouge Parish Detention Center.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office released a statement:

“We were angered and frustrated to be informed that our agency’s genuine effort to help the people of Louisiana, during one of the most challenging years in this state’s history, was allegedly taken advantage of.

We immediately conducted an internal investigation which has, so far, uncovered policy violations by former employee Robert McCormick, along with former reserve deputy Stacy Smith. McCormick, assigned to the agency’s emergency services division, resigned while on administrative leave, in lieu of termination, prior to the completion of the investigation. Stacy Smith’s reserve designation was separated from the agency.

The internal investigation has also, so far, revealed related and unrelated policy violations by McCormick’s supervisor, and Stacy Smith’s husband, former employee Dean Smith, who also resigned while on administrative leave prior to the conclusion of the investigation.

The internal investigation is ongoing, but being finalized. We continue to review internal controls while we stand in support of the efforts of 18th Judicial District Attorney Tony Clayton, as well as the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office, who initiated an investigation in May at the request of the governor’s office. All agencies involved are committed to obtaining full restitution for the people of Louisiana.

However, this should not diminish the dedicated work of the countless other State Fire Marshal employees who conducted themselves as true public servants during the state’s critical times of need.”

This is a developing story.