Source: United States Attorneys General
Headline: Baltimore CFO Sentenced To Four And A Half Years In Prison For Wire Fraud And Aggravated Identity Theft
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact ELIZABETH MORSE
www.justice.gov/usao/md at (410) 209-4885
Baltimore, Maryland – United States District Judge George L. Russell sentenced Jay Edward Wilkins, age 47, of Stoney Beach, Maryland, today to 54 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft stemming from a scheme to defraud his employer of more than $700,000. Judge Russell also ordered Wilkins to pay $700,000 in restitution and forfeiture.
The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.
According to the plea agreement, Wilkins was the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Revolution, a Baltimore based business. From 2014 through 2017, Wilkins had been improperly diverting corporate funds for his own personal use. As the CFO, Wilkins had access to the personal identifying information, including names, dates of birth, social security numbers, and addresses, of current and former Revolution employees. Over the three-year fraud, Wilkins repeatedly logged into the Revolution payroll portal, and changed the direct deposit information maintained for multiple employees to send fraudulent payroll payments to himself. Wilkins diverted more than $700,000 in corporate funds using the identities of at least three former employees.
In addition, Wilkins failed to report a significant portion of the money he obtained from the fraud on his annual tax returns filed with the IRS for the 2014, 2015, and 2016 calendar years.
Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning commended the FBI for their work in the investigation. Mr. Schenning thanked Assistant United States Attorney’s Harry Gruber and Paul Riley, who prosecuted the case.