By Michael Schwartz

(RBiz) – The Virginia Birth Injury Fund has fired two of its top executives, while its former CFO recently lost an appeal for a lighter prison sentence after embezzling millions from the embattled organization.

The VBIF, formally known as the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program, announced Tuesday that its board voted to fire the fund’s Executive Director Dawn McCoy and Chief Program Officer Carla Collins.

The announcement stated that the vote against McCoy and Collins was made as a result of the board’s “loss of confidence to carry out their roles.”

The firings are the latest chapter in a tumultuous two years for the Richmond-based program, a quasi-state agency that manages a $700 million fund meant to compensate those who suffer neurological injuries at birth.

The fund was thrust into a state of upheaval in 2023, when it was discovered that its then-CFO, John Hunter Raines, had stolen $6.75 million from its coffers.

Raines was subsequently sentenced to nine years in federal prison but left the fund in disarray and the parents of many of its claimants calling for change.

McCoy and Collins took their positions in 2024 as part of that change but their tenures proved to be short-lived. Their firings were effective immediately, VBIF said.

Following the termination vote, the VBIF board on Tuesday passed a separate resolution to hire an interim executive director, Alan Abramowitz. His term with VBIF will begin Jan. 21.

VBIF said Abramowitz has more than 30 years of leadership experience in public service, nonprofits and programs serving children, famileis and individuals with disabilities.

“As Interim Director, Mr. Abramowitz will work in partnership with the Board to support staff, engage families, and ensure the program continues to operate in a manner consistent with its statutory mission and public trust.”

VBIF’s outside spokesman Mark Hubbard of McGuireWoods Consulting said Abramowitz was not available for an interview.

Meanwhile, in federal appeals court, Raines, VBIF’s former CFO last month was denied in his efforts to reduce his 108-month prison sentence.

Raines, 39, filed the appeal last summer, asking the courts take a “second look at what is a harsh sentence,” he stated in legal documents. He asked for a reduction in his sentence and to serve the remainder of his term on home confinement.

A panel of judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals denied his argument in an opinion filed in late December and confirmed the lower court’s sentence.

Raines remains in prison and has been representing himself in the appeal process and is making his filings from the low-security camp at FCI Petersburg, where he’s been held since March.

Raines worked as CFO and deputy director of VBIF from 2020 until his termination in 2023. The New Kent County resident was caught using the million he stole from the fund to pay for an alcohol and gambling addiction, as well as limo rides, private jet trips and payments to a mistress.

He was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Richmond on March 5 and taken into custody on the spot.

The VBIF program was created by state legislation and paid for by physicians, hospitals and insurance carriers to provide lifetime care for children who become disabled after suffering brain or spinal cord injuries during the birthing process. It’s meant to avoid malpractice lawsuits related to birth injuries.

The program, according to court records, has roughly 300 active claimants who rely on the fund for therapies, caregiver services, medical bills, medications, counseling and equipment such as wheelchair accessible vans.

Raines’ theft marked the second time in 15 years that a VBIF insider stole from the program. Former claims manager Iris F. Allen was sentenced in 2010 to 10 years in prison for embezzling $744,000 from the fund.