A Tulsa, Oklahoma, man was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to repay nearly $370,000 after being found guilty of stealing from his employer.
Ernest Everette Howard, 49, of Tulsa, must $368,329.61 in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma. In in addition to jail time he was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.
Howard was employed as a controller at the Tulsa offices of an international company from 2017 to his termination in January 2019. As such, he oversaw the payroll process and, from January 2018 until his termination, fraudulently padded his own paychecks with unauthorized bonuses and automobile allowances.
In an effort to disguise his thefts, Howard attributed the illegal payments to cost of goods sold. Howard used the funds for his personal benefit.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office Asset Forfeiture Section has secured assets from Howard in the approximate amount of $130,000, to be applied to the restitution owed to the victim company, and the Office’s Financial Litigation Unit will pursue the remaining restitution owed.
The FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin C. Leitch prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma
Topics USA Fraud Commercial Lines Business Insurance Oklahoma
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
US P/C Insurers Post Best Q1 Underwriting Result In 17 Years 
Microsoft Tells Texas Agencies They Were Exposed in Russian Hack 
Farmers Adjusters Cry Foul Over Workloads, Claims Handling in Letter to Regulators 
US Home Insurance Still Priced Too Low for Climate Risk, Says Swiss Re Chair 
