Philip Ian Thomas, Wire Fraud, Texas 2024

AMARILLO, TX – A calculated scheme to siphon nearly half a million dollars from a legitimate business has landed two Texas men in federal court. Philip Ian Thomas, 41, and Hadley Lane Jones, 30, both of Amarillo, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, admitting they systematically defrauded Westway Feed Products, LLC, a North American liquid feed supplement company.

The grift began in October 2014 when Westway hired Thomas to manage its Dimmitt, Texas plant. He was granted the authority to approve repair and maintenance projects costing up to $3,000 – a seemingly innocuous power that would become the engine of their criminal enterprise. Two years later, Thomas teamed up with Jones to exploit that authority, concocting a plan to submit fraudulent invoices for work Jones claimed to perform, but never did.

The scheme was deceptively simple, yet remarkably persistent. In November 2016, Thomas directed Westway’s accounting department to add Jones as an approved contractor. He then fabricated two invoices for welding services, totaling $2,690. While Jones had legitimately completed a single welding job worth $495, Thomas knowingly signed off on the full amount. The money hit Jones’ bank account, where he promptly withdrew $2,000 and handed it over to Thomas. This initial success fueled a much larger, multi-year operation.

Over the next three years, the pair continued to submit bogus invoices to Westway’s accounting department. The company dutifully paid them, and Jones, in turn, split the ill-gotten gains with Thomas. To add a veneer of legitimacy, Jones even established a sham business, “Elite Welding Service,” creating invoices that appeared to originate from a real entity. Thomas meticulously crafted hundreds of fictitious invoices, detailing jobs Jones never completed, inducing Westway to pay out over $474,429. He strategically kept most invoices at or below the $3,000 approval threshold to avoid raising red flags with upper management.

Federal investigators with the U.S. Secret Service’s Lubbock Resident Office eventually uncovered the scheme. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Howey prosecuted the case, bringing it to a guilty plea from both defendants. The fraud continued unabated until March 2020, demonstrating a brazen disregard for the law and the financial health of Westway Feed Products.

Both Philip Ian Thomas and Hadley Lane Jones now face up to 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been determined. This case serves as a stark reminder that even seemingly small-scale fraud can escalate into significant financial losses for businesses, and those who engage in such schemes will be held accountable by federal authorities.

Source: https://www.secretservice.gov/newsroom/releases/2022/04/amarillo-men-plead-guilty-defrauding-cattle-feed-supplement-company