COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) – A federal judge sentenced a Summerville man to prison for wire fraud and identity theft, according to the news release.
United States Attorney Sherri Lydon stated that John Scott Jarrett, 46, of Summerville, was sentenced in federal court in Charleston, South Carolina, for wire fraud and identity theft.
The news release states that United States District Judge Richard M. Gergel, of Charleston, sentenced Jarrett to 60 months imprisonment and 3 years Supervised Release.
Evidence in this case established that from 2012 through 2017, Jarrett embezzled more than $810,000 from his employer, authorities stated. Jarrett was the financial comptroller of an audio and video consulting firm in Charleston.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Lance Crick stated that for Jarrett to execute the scheme, he wrote $512,129 in checks from his employer’s company that were made payable to his wife’s maiden name.
Jarrett made these checks appear as payments to a vendor of his company, and he used the signature stamp of his employer to forge the checks, Crick stated.
Jarrett also embezzled approximately $300,000 from his company to pay his personal American Express bills, Crick added. He paid these American Express bills via interstate wires.
In addition to the wire fraud, Jarrett stole the identifying information of his employer and forged his signature to obtain fraudulent loans from various Internet lenders.
Agents from the FBI investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Rhett DeHart of the Charleston office prosecuted the case.