Two high-ranking executives at a Charlotte-based payroll services company have been sentenced to prison for ripping off their clients to the tune of over $2 million.
Jerry Wayne Overcash, the 67-year-old President of CenterCede Services Inc., and John Bernard Thigpen, the company’s 60-year-old Chief Financial Officer, were sentenced to 46 months and 21 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in the elaborate financial scheme.
According to court documents, Overcash and Thigpen, a Certified Public Accountant, conspired to divert funds meant for clients’ federal taxes, gross payroll, worker’s compensation, and unemployment insurance into their own pockets. The scheme, which lasted from November 2010 to November 2011, netted the duo over $2 million in ill-gotten gains.
U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose called Overcash and Thigpen ‘professional scam artists’ who ignored their fiduciary responsibilities to their clients and left many of them holding the bag.
The company’s co-founder and Chairman of the Board, Frank Alton Moody, II, 56, of Arden, N.C., was indicted in March 2016 for his role in the fraudulent scheme. Moody is still awaiting trial.
Overcash and Thigpen were ordered to jointly pay $1.3 million in restitution to the victim client companies. The Court will enter a final restitution amount in 90 days, to allow any additional eligible victims to submit their claims.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, worked together to bring the case to justice.
‘A prison sentence is the only punishment befitting of these two professional scam artists,’ said U.S. Attorney Rose.
The case is a stark reminder of the dangers of entrusting sensitive financial information to unscrupulous individuals.
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Key Facts
- State: North Carolina
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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