Edward Cantrell, 36, of Florence, Kentucky, has been indicted on charges he embezzled some $3 million from Fin Pan Inc., a Hamilton, Ohio-based maker of construction products where he had been employed as financial controller. According to prosecutors, Cantrell executed more than 125 fraudulent transactions whereby he had company officials sign checks payable to company vendors but had them sent to a post office box and deposited them into his own accounts. He then transferred monies between accounts in an effort to cover up the thefts which spanned a five year period beginning in 2004. The 55 count indictment includes one count of aggravated theft; 11 counts of telecommunications fraud; 10 counts of forgery; 11 counts of money laundering; 12 counts of unauthorized use of computer, cable or telecommunication property; and 10 counts of securing writings by deception. Once he was confronted with discrepancies in the books, Cantrell disappeared. He was arrested yesterday in Arizona. Authorities allege that Cantrell used the stolen money to support a lavish lifestyle that included expensive cars and luxury vacations. The case is reportedly the largest embezzlement case to be prosecuted in Butler County, Ohio.
Tracy M. Connelly, 39, of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to charges of theft, forgery and unlawful use of a computer in connection with the embezzlement of $167,642.76 from the Conshohocken Sewer Authority where she had been employed as an office manager. According to prosecutors, starting in July 2006, Connelly forged numerous checks and made unauthorized wire transfers from CSA accounts to pay for personal expenses, including gift cards, rent, a car loan and repairs, a vacation rental property and other items. She was arrested in December 2008 after a criminal investigation and following her June 2008 firing from the CSA. Connelly also used a fake company, TMC Enterprise, an entity she created to cash the forged checks. Court records indicate Connelly has two prior arrests for theft; one in 1999 for retail theft and one in 2001 for unlawful taking.
Jeffrey C. Ramsey, 46, of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty Friday to embezzling more than $1.5 million from JSP International, a plastics manufacturing company for which he had served as a controller. Ramsey was originally charged last May with numerous counts of theft, forgery, access device fraud, unlawful use of a computer, and related crimes, but pleaded guilty to one count of each. Prosecutors alleged that Ramsey stole the funds to support a spa and salon in Philadelphia that he owned outside of JSP. In his position as controller, since 2004, Ramsey reportedly wrote 320 checks to himself and third parties for his own benefit, totalling $1,549,946.82. He co-owned his business, Art+Science Spa and Salon in Manayunk, Pennsylvania, with a former partner, Steven Faleo.
