Ex-Tulsa office manager sentenced to prison for money laundering
BY DAVID HARPER World Staff Writer
Thursday, January 31, 2013
1/31/13 at 4:56 AM
A former Tulsan was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison and ordered to pay more than $200,000 in restitution for defrauding his employer over a three-year period.
Charles R. Fedon, 62, had pleaded guilty July 13 to a money laundering charge filed June 5 by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tulsa.
Fedon admitted in his plea agreement that he engaged in a scheme to defraud Oscar J. Boldt Construction, a division of the Boldt Co. of Wisconsin, from April 2005 until April 2008.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Gallant asserted in a Jan. 23 document that, while managing Boldt's Tulsa regional office, Fedon was able to orchestrate a scheme to defraud Boldt by fraudulently manipulating purchase orders and other documents to benefit himself and others.
Gallant wrote that the scheme was "atypical" because it didn't generate cash. Rather, Gallant said, Fedon's goal was to obtain goods and services.
Testimony indicated that Fedon billed the company for unauthorized items such as landscaping for his home, high-end kitchen and lighting fixtures, and Christmas decor and claimed that they were connected to the company's construction projects.
The charge to which he pleaded guilty involved an August 2007 transaction of $34,921, but U.S. District Judge Claire Eagan found that Fedon caused a loss to the company of $212,148.
At his July plea hearing, Fedon said the motivation for the $34,921 transaction was to pay for a trip.
Randall Haak, Boldt general counsel, told the court on Wednesday that the case has "shaken the entire organization."
He said the company wanted to send the message that it will not tolerate conduct like Fedon's and that "if you behave like this, you'll end up in jail."
Fedon, who is free on bond, is to report to prison March 20.
Original Print Headline: Former office manager given two-year term in fraud case
David Harper 918-581-8359
david.harper@tulsaworld.com
