Dive Brief:
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The former CFO of an auto dealership holding company was sentenced to three years and five months in prison for embezzling $1.9 million, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
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Christopher Firle, 53, of Fairfield, Calif., carried out the four-year embezzlement scheme in multiple ways, including by using company credit cards to pay for over $750,000 in personal expenses, according to a press release issued by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of California.
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The scheme lasted from January 2016 through September 2019, prosecutors said. Besides getting sentenced to prison, Firle was ordered to pay $1.9 million to his former employer and about $1.7 million to the U.S. government.
Dive Insight:
The sentencing follows a 2021 guilty plea by Firle, whose former employer was Farfield-based Price-Simms Holdings LLC, according to court documents in a related civil action. The government’s press release did not disclose the company’s name.
“The unauthorized [credit card] charges included tickets to sporting events and purchases at several retail stores, including Bergdorf Goodman, Chanel, Hermes, Nordstrom, and Tiffany & Co.,” the release said. “Firle also initiated over 30 unauthorized wire transfers from the company to a family member. Those transfers totaled over $500,000.”
In addition, Firle issued over 30 unauthorized company checks to himself totaling more than $165,000 and withdrew more than $50,000 from a company account without authorization, according to the release. He also issued himself excess bonus payments totaling almost $160,000, it said.
The case grew out of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Thuesen.
