A former Pacific Seafood Group executive was sentenced to prison after embezzling more than USD 350,000 (EUR 300,571) from the Oregon-based processor over several years.
On 24 July, U.S. District Court Judge Anna J. Brown sentenced Andrew Henry Jacobs, 50, to two years in federal prison for wire fraud in an embezzlement scheme. Jacobs also received another 15 months in prison for filing false tax returns.
"Mr. Jacobs stole from his employer, his colleagues, and the American taxpayers. The sentences imposed in this case reflect the seriousness of his crimes," said Billy J. Williams, United States Attorney for the District of Oregon. “Today’s result will serve as an important reminder that the FBI, the IRS, and the United States Attorney’s Office will work with victims to put perpetrators of financial fraud and tax cheats behind bars."
Jacobs stole more than USD 352,000 (EUR 302,237) from Pacific Seafood and failed to disclose the proceeds of the crime to the Internal Revenue Service, evading nearly USD 82,000 (EUR 70,407) in personal income taxes, according to the Oregon U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“This was a rogue former employee who committed a crime against our company, our team members and our entire community,” said Daniel C. Occhipinti, Pacific Seafood’s general counsel. “We are very grateful to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the outstanding team at the FBI for seeing that justice was done.”
Jacobs worked at Pacific Seafood for more than a decade, including serving as vice president of employee leadership and development. He was fired in 2015 after an audit of his expense reports revealed that he “repeatedly claimed suspicious and unverified expenses,” according to the Oregon U.S. Attorney’s Office.
As a result, Pacific hired a forensic accounting firm and found that Jacobs submitted more than USD 900,000 (EUR 772,698) in expenses such as prostitutes, luxury travel and firearms in just the last four years with the company.
“Due to the lack of older records, the accountants could not assess the full scope of Jacobs’s crime,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
However, when confronted by federal investigators, Jacobs admitted both the embezzlement and the tax fraud. He pleaded guilty and promised to pay restitution of USD 352,441 (EUR 302,563) to Pacific Seafood and USD 81,901 (EUR 70,310) to the IRS.
Judge Brown ordered Jacobs to pay Pacific Seafood an additional USD 126,444 (EUR 108, 550) for the cost of hiring the forensic accounting firm.
