Former Credit Manager Of Florida Newspaper & Wife Charged With Embezzling More Than $1 million

Charles T. Wilson, the former credit manager of the Tampa Tribune for 15 years, along with his wife, Lynda Wilson, were arrested yesterday by US Secret Service agents and charged yesterday with mail fraud in connection with the alleged embezzled more than $1 million from the publication over a 10 year period beginning in 1998. Prosecutors allege that the Wilson's created a phony collections agency, CCL Services, run out of their home and collected more than $500,000 in monies due the Tribune. They are also alleged to have stolen or diverted checks from advertisers meant for the publication to the tune of $571,000. The fraud was detected when Wilson went on vacation and a customer complained that his account had been frozen due to non-payment.

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Update (2/28/11): Charles Wilson was sentenced to 48 months in prison and ordered to pay $1.5 million in restitution. Lynda Wilson was sentenced to 41 months in prison and ordered to pay $417,000 in restitution.