Ellen Corkrum | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Harvard University |
| Occupations | Former public official, businesswoman, pilot |
Ellen Corkrum is a former Liberian public official who served as managing director of the Liberia Airport Authority. She later became the subject of a major political and legal controversy in Liberia after alleging corruption by senior government officials and fleeing the country in 2013. [1] In 2016, she announced an intention to seek the Liberian presidency. [2] In the United States, where she had legally changed her name to Hunter VanPelt in 2016, she pleaded guilty in 2021 to bank fraud connected to the Paycheck Protection Program and was sentenced in 2022 to three years and five months in prison. [3] [4]
Corkrum served as a United States military supply and logistics officer and later worked as a military and commercial pilot. [5] She also studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. [6]
Corkrum later returned to Liberia and was appointed managing director of the Liberia Airport Authority. [1]
In 2013, Corkrum became involved in a public dispute with the Liberian government after she and her associate, Melvin Johnson, alleged corruption involving senior officials and presented secret recordings in support of their claims. [1]
The Liberian government denied the allegations and accused Corkrum and Johnson of theft and economic sabotage, initiating legal proceedings against them. [1]
Contemporary reporting in 2013 alleged that then–Liberia National Police Director Chris Massaquoi assisted in Corkrum’s departure from Liberia. [7]
Corkrum subsequently left Liberia and traveled through Sierra Leone before returning to the United States. [1]
In 2019, the Government of Liberia dropped charges against Corkrum related to the case. [8]
In January 2020, she returned to Liberia after the government dropped all criminal charges against her, ending several years of legal uncertainty following her departure from the country in 2013. [9]
In July 2016, Corkrum legally changed her name to Hunter VanPelt. [3]
The Department of Justice later identified her also as Hunter Lauren VanPelt and Ellen Yabba Kwame Corkrum. [4]
On 18 August 2021, VanPelt pleaded guilty to bank fraud in connection with fraudulent applications for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program. [3]
According to the Department of Justice, she submitted six fraudulent loan applications between 27 April and 17 June 2020, requesting US$7,943,591.50, of which US$6,017,066.50 was disbursed. [3]
On 4 January 2022, she was sentenced to three years and five months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay US$7,002,031.50 in restitution and to forfeit US$2,077,381. [4]
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator, she was no longer in custody as of April 2024. [10]