Fredrick Thomas Gettins Strohm, Embezzlement, North Carolina 2024

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Fredrick Thomas Gettins Strohm, 41, of Jackson County, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release for embezzling more than $95,000 from an Indian tribal organization.

According to plea documents filed in the case, Strohm was employed as an Office Manager at Cherokee Broadband Enterprises (CBE), an entity of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. In that capacity, Strohm had access to CBE's bank accounts and bank cards, which he was authorized to use to pay for business-related expenses.

However, beginning in August 2014, and continuing through February of 2018, Strohm used his access to CBE's bank accounts and bank cards to pay for personal expenses and to make large cash withdrawals. For example, Strohm unlawfully used CBE funds to pay for numerous personal purchases on Amazon, and to pay approximately $52,040.55 in personal credit card debt.

During the relevant time period, Strohm also used CBE funds to make approximately $45,855.01 in PayPal payments, some covering personal purchases and some consisting of cash payments to himself. In total, during the relevant time period, Strohm embezzled approximately $199,077.06 of CBE funds.

Court records also show that, throughout the years in which he was engaged in the wrongdoing, Strohm attempted to conceal his embezzlement from the authorities within the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. To do so, Strohm altered bank statements for the CBE bank account he submitted to Tribal Finance, and further attempted to conceal evidence by deleting QuickBooks files from the CBE computer located in his office.

However, the authorities within the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians were able to recover the deleted files and uncover Strohm's theft. U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray commended the Cherokee Indian Police Department for their investigation of this case and thanked EBCI Attorney General Michael McConnell and his office for their invaluable assistance.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Bradley, of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Asheville. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdnc/pr/jackson-county-man-sentenced-18-months-embezzling-funds-indian-tribal-organization