Jon Robert Rush, Wire Fraud, Texas 2024

Local businessman Jon Robert Rush, 56, of Keller, Texas, has been sentenced to 51 months in federal prison for his role in a scheme to defraud his employer, a logistics and transportation company based in the DFW area. Rush, who served as the company's Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, was found guilty of wire fraud in April 2024.

According to court documents, Rush misappropriated the company's funds for his own benefit and misdirected funds to pay off his debt from 2016 to 2020. He disguised the monetary transfers by using the names of vendors with whom the company routinely did business.

The scheme, which spanned four years, resulted in losses of over $1 million for the company and its related entities. The majority shareholders of the company provided statements at the sentencing hearing, detailing the financial instability and employee layoffs that followed the discovery of the fraud.

Rush's prior conviction of conspiracy to commit counterfeit check fraud and wire fraud in 1994 was also taken into consideration during the sentencing hearing. The court noted that his prior conviction was a factor in the decision to deny a downward variance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dimitri Rocha prosecuted the case, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Beverly Chapman handling the restitution. The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation.

Rush will be required to pay $1,062,459.49 in restitution to his victims. He is currently serving his 51-month sentence. The case serves as a reminder of the importance of maintaining the trust of employees and stakeholders in business.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndtx/pr/twice-convicted-felon-sentenced-four-years-after-defrauding-employer