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Pamela VanSyckle, 60, of Oak Ridge, was released on $100,000 unsecured bond following a first appearance in U.S. District Court in Newark on Wednesday.
VanSyckle -- who owns and operates Kingdom Konsultants Travel -- is charged with federal employee compensation fraud and making false statements.
VanSyckle began receiving disability benefits in September 2020 for an injury that she claimed occurred while working as a rural carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
For three entire years, VanSyckle "signed and filed multiple federal claim forms alleging that she had not worked or had outside employment," Sellinger said.
"Based on the submission of those claims, VanSyckle received over $155,000 in disability benefits from the federal government," the U.S. attorney said.
"While claiming that she was neither self-employed nor involved in any business enterprise, VanSyckle performed a variety of services for the travel agency including handling sales, marketing and financial operations," Sellinger added.
Her face and bio remained on the company website, on a LinkedIn account and on social media.
VanSyckle founded Kingdom Konsultants Travel in 2004, promising: "If you can dream it, we can book it."
The company arranges a variety of personalized Disney excursions, including "Itinerary planning, dining reservations, child care reservations, special event and Cirque du Soleil tickets, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and Pirates League reservations, shore excursions and ground transportation reservations."
Sellinger credited special agents of the U.S. Postal Service's Office of Inspector General, special agents of the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General and the Jefferson Township Police Department with the investigation leading to the charges.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas S. Kearney of Sellinger's Special Prosecutions Division in Newark is handling the case for the government.
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