MACON, GA. — The US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia accused Ashley Moore of conducting a “ghost employee” scheme to steal over $375,000 from Perdue Farms.

The court document filed on June 3 explained that Moore was an employee of GDI Integrated Facility Services, which provides maintenance and commercial cleaning services across the United States, including to Perdue’s Perry, Ga., facility.

Moore was responsible for the hiring and managing of employees at the Perdue cook plant.

The attorney’s office alleged that between approximately Dec. 1, 2022, and March 31, 2024, Moore “did knowingly execute a scheme and artifice to obtain money and funds under the custody and control of Pathward NA, by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises.”

Pathward NA is a financial institution through which GDI provided Rapid Cards for employees as a means of compensation. Employees would activate the card, and their payroll would then be deposited onto the Rapid Card.

Moore would provide employees she hired with the Rapid Cards and was also in charge of processing payroll, the court document said.

As part of the alleged scheme, Moore would have funds fraudulently deposited onto Rapid Cards and then withdraw or otherwise spend those funds, according to the attorney’s office. The state’s accusations added that Moore made it appear like former GDI employees had been rehired to work at the Perdue plant, and she would submit hours for these “ghost employees,” who had not actually been hired.

Throughout the period in question, Moore used the identities of eight former employees to bill Perdue $266,248.35 in wages in addition to service fees amounting to nearly $110,000, the attorney’s office said.

In March 2025, the state notified Moore that she had become the subject of a federal criminal investigation. The letter said Moore would likely be charged with offenses related to, but not limited to, violations of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.