Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Colorado Man Expected To Plead Guilty To Embezzling $255K From Employer

From The Cortez Journal on 5.14.13:

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Brian K. Shoults, 42, worked as a bookkeeper for Office Outpost in Cortez for three years. During that time he allegedly defrauded the company by depositing unauthorized payroll money into a personal account, according to an indictment handed down February 4 by a federal grand jury in Durango.
 
Jeff Dorschner, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office, said Wednesday that Shoults initially pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud and tax evasion, but has requested a change-of-plea hearing, scheduled for May 29 in a Denver federal courtroom.
 
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The federal indictment alleges that between April 8, 2008, and Aug, 25, 2011, Shoults obtained $255,000 “by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses” from the bank accounts of Copy Shop Inc. doing business as Office Outpost.
 
As bookkeeper for Office Outpost, Shoults had access to the company bank account and was responsible for payroll accounting for the firm’s 15 employees. According to the indictment, “The defendant would prepare bi-weekly payroll and pay himself more than he should have received ... then ... transfer the inflated amount into his personal bank account.”
 
In an attempt to hide the fraudulent transactions, “the defendant would record these overpayments either generically as ‘Payroll Expenses’ or other business expenses and in some instances make no record of such payment.”
 
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