Evansville Man Sentenced to 16 Months in Prison for Using his Accounting Position to Embezzle More than $87,000 from his Gibson County Employer
Patrick Garrett, 33, of Evansville, Indiana, was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges of wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering.
According to court documents, Garrett was employed as a Sales Specialist for a business located in Gibson County, Indiana. Garrett was responsible for handling accounts payable and accounts receivable. From April 9, 2021, to July 16, 2021, Garrett devised and executed a direct bill and fake invoice scheme to steal $87,192.26 from his employer.
Garrett purchased approximately 62 items for himself from Amazon and other retailers by charging the purchases to his employer without authorization. Garrett’s fraudulent purchases included a car, five gas motorcycles, three electric scooters, an Apple iPad Pro, an Apple iMac Pro desktop computer, an Apple MacBook Pro laptop computer, and two drones. Garrett entered false or altered information about these purchases into his employer’s accounting system to conceal the fraud.
Garrett also submitted false invoices into his employer’s accounting system for services he claimed were provided by Garrett Ventures. Garrett created the company in 2018 and served as its Chief Financial Officer. No services were ever provided by Garrett Ventures to Garrett’s employer.
Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana; Jeffrey Adams, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service; Rodney Hopkins, Inspector of Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Sheriff Timothy Bottoms of the Gibson County Sherriff’s Office made the announcement.
The U.S. Secret Service investigated the case. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Gibson County Sheriff’s Office provided valuable assistance. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young. As part of the sentence, Judge Young ordered that Garrett pay restitution of $87,192.84, forfeit any illicitly purchased items, and be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for two years following his release from federal prison.
U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Miller who prosecuted this case.
