Source: Office of United States Attorneys
CONCORD – A former Grantham man and current resident of Holly Springs, North Carolina, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Concord to embezzling almost $240,000 from LISTEN Community Services (LISTEN), an Upper Valley charity that offers multiple services for vulnerable individuals, U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces.
Kyle Fisher, 43, pleaded guilty to wire fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Paul J. Barbadoro scheduled sentencing for June 11, 2024. Fisher was charged on May 10, 2023.
Fisher was the Executive Director of LISTEN from approximately August 2016 through October 2022. As Executive Director, Fisher had full access to LISTEN’s finances, including its PayPal account, which it used to collect donations, and its bank account. The defendant made unauthorized transfers from LISTEN’s PayPal and bank accounts to accounts he controlled. He also wrote eight unauthorized checks payable to himself. Fisher then spent the stolen funds on personal expenses, primarily gambling at a casino in Massachusetts.
For example, on January 24, 2022, Fisher withdrew $4,787 from LISTEN’s PayPal account and transferred the funds to his personal bank account. Later that same day, Fisher made multiple withdrawals from his bank account, including at ATMs at the casino. He then deposited a substantial amount of cash into his personal casino account that day. The casino records showed that Fisher continuously gambled on January 24, 2022 and January 25, 2022, and lost a net of $6,719 across those two days.
Fisher also took steps to conceal his embezzlement from LISTEN. For example, he created a fake PayPal statement that showed over $94,000 in payments to Dell. Fisher also provided fraudulent invoices to LISTEN.
The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, 3 years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the investigation. Valuable assistance was provided by the Lebanon Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander S. Chen is prosecuting the case.
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