GREENBELT, Maryland – A Maryland couple has been sentenced to prison for defrauding their employer of $1 million through fraudulent expense claims.
Paul Dunham, 59, of Northampton, England, formerly of Montgomery County, Maryland, was sentenced to 4 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiring to commit wire fraud and for money laundering.
Sandra Dunham, 58, Paul’s wife, was sentenced to two months imprisonment, with a reduction of 42 days for time served, for the wire fraud conspiracy. The remaining 18 days of Mrs. Dunham’s sentence will be served in home detention.
The Dunhams were ordered to forfeit and pay restitution of $1 million, the total losses incurred as a result of the scheme.
According to their guilty pleas, Paul and Sandra Dunham worked for PACE Worldwide, which was located at various times in Maryland and North Carolina, and had a subsidiary in the United Kingdom named PACE Europe Ltd.
The couple relocated from the United Kingdom to Maryland and then North Carolina, and were provided with corporate credit cards. Between 2002 and 2009, they fraudulently charged personal expenses to their corporate credit cards and submitted vouchers to PACE for reimbursement that falsely described the expenditures as business expenses.
Paul Dunham misrepresented $3,007 as being spent on meals during business meetings, when in fact the money was spent on luxury bedding for his upscale North Carolina residence. Sandra Dunham sought reimbursement for $8,397 which she represented as expenses incurred to cancel a vacation due to a business meeting, when these expenses were actually mortgage payments the couple made on two separate time share units the couple had purchased in Barbados.
The couple also fraudulently billed PACE Europe Ltd. for business expenses already paid by PACE Worldwide, obtaining duplicate reimbursements.
Defendant: Paul Dunham
Criminal Charges: Conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering
City and State: Greenbelt, Maryland
Date: January 29, 2015
Sentence: 4 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release
Dollar Amount: $1 million in restitution
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Key Facts
- State: Maryland
- Category: White Collar Crime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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