MISSOURI CITY, Texas – A Missouri City man has been ordered to prison for embezzling millions of dollars from his employer, the United States Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
Preston Allen Fredrich, 35, pleaded guilty to wire fraud on Aug. 17, 2022. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison to be immediately followed by one year of supervised release, U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison said.
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Investigators said from at least 2018 through spring 2021, Fredrich stole from a family-owned company located in north Houston that sold and re-fitted large trucks. Fredrich was the lead salesman, authorities said.
Fredrich reportedly orchestrated an embezzlement scheme in which he stole from his employer by submitting fake and fraudulent invoices and then collected the payments for himself.
“He began his scheme by asking clients to send invoices directly to him, as opposed to the company. He then sent these invoices to the company with inflated expenses or unwanted upgrades, pocketing the difference for himself,” a news release from the DOJ said.
According to U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani, Fredrich also admitted that as the scheme progressed, he eventually set up a bank account with another individual who ran an autobody shop that frequently did business with the victim company. Fredrich then submitted fake invoices from this company and hid them by bundling them with other legitimate invoices, investigators said.
Fredrich was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Carter prosecuted the case.
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