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/ CBS Baltimore
BALTIMORE — A former legislative aide for the Maryland State Senate is facing charges after being accused of stealing funds that were meant for scholarships, according to State Prosecutor Charlton Howard.
Court documents show Esther Dikongue worked for a Maryland Senator between 2019 and 2023. During her time there, she was responsible for monitoring the senator’s email and interacting with the scholarship committee.
Members of the Maryland Legislature are given funds to award scholarships to students who are attending Maryland colleges or residents who are attending college out-of-state, according to the state prosecutor.
According to court documents, Dikongue created a Maryland College Aid Processing System (MDCAPS) account in her own name and applied for a “unique major” for a master’s program.
Dikongue never submitted a scholarship application to the senator’s office or completed the required essay, yet in July 2022, she awarded herself a scholarship by telling the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) that she was chosen through the selection process, court documents show.
When the MHEC contacted Dikongue to ask about the amount of money awarded for the scholarship, she informed officials that she was awarded $10,000 and another student was awarded $1,200, according to court documents.
Her funds were sent to a school in Washington, D.C. where she was enrolled in a Master’s Program, court documents show.
According to court documents, Dikongue logged into the senator’s email in 2024 despite ending her employment in March 2023.
She used the senator’s email to inform MHEC that her scholarship funds for the spring 2025 semester needed to be moved to the summer 2024 semester, court documents show.
Shortly after, she emailed MHEC to clarify the scholarship was to be renewed by the coming summer semester. She then emailed a third time requesting the funds all be allocated to the fall semester, according to court documents.
Based on the information that Dikongue provided, the MHEC allocated the full award amount to the fall 2024 term.
According to court documents, Dikongue used her position to take $20,000 in scholarship funds from the senator’s office.
She was charged with felony theft scheme and unauthorized access to a computer system, the state prosecutor said.
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