Anthony Lester, 53, of Fresno, California, is behind bars after being sentenced to five years and four months in federal prison for a calculated theft spree that bled $306,319 from the company that trusted him with its books. The former Chief Financial Officer of Century Builders and Highlands Energy Services was hit with the sentence by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd following a conviction on all counts of mail fraud and money laundering.
Lester didn’t just dip his hands in the till—he rigged the whole machine. Between August 2010 and January 2012, while holding top accounting roles at the Fresno-based firms, he exploited his authority over checking accounts and corporate credit cards to siphon cash straight into his own pockets. Prosecutors laid bare how Lester funneled company funds into a PayPal account he controlled, then transferred the stolen money to his personal bank accounts—all without authorization and for zero legitimate business use.
The fraud didn’t stop at theft. Lester tried to cover his tracks by framing his predecessor and other employees, falsely linking them to the PayPal accounts used in the scheme. The jury saw through it. After a four-day trial on August 19, 2016, they returned a guilty verdict on all seven counts in the indictment, sealing Lester’s fate with a verdict rooted in paper trails and digital breadcrumbs.
Court documents detail a cold, methodical betrayal: Lester moved money from company checking accounts and two corporate credit cards into personal PayPal holdings, laundering the proceeds to make them appear legitimate. The total stolen: $306,319. Not a dime was repaid before the courts stepped in. His actions didn’t just break the law—they gutted the financial integrity of the businesses he was hired to protect.
“Financial crimes are a concern in every type and size of business, and sadly it often involves the most trusted individuals,” said Ryan L. Spradlin, special agent in charge of HSI San Francisco. “The crimes not only rob businesses of vital revenue, but they also undermine the trust of employees and customers alike.”
In addition to his prison term, Lester was ordered to pay full restitution—$306,319—to the companies he defrauded. The case was the result of a joint investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Fresno Police Department, with prosecution handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick R. Delahunty and Patrick J. Suter.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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