In a shocking case of corporate corruption, a former IT director at Clarkson Construction Company was sentenced to prison for a $442,000 mail fraud scheme.
Rodney J. Tatum, 44, of Branson, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan to one year and three months in prison. The court also ordered Tatum to pay a total of $442,810 in restitution, after he paid $62,412 in restitution at today’s sentencing hearing.
Tatum was employed by Clarkson Construction Company, one of the Midwest’s largest construction companies, from 1991 until a federal criminal complaint was filed on Aug. 12, 2014. He was Clarkson’s director of information technology since 2003.
According to court documents, Tatum used his company’s credit card to order hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of expensive computer and communication equipment, including hundreds of solid state hard drives, other computer equipment, and 23 iPhones, between October 2013 and September 2014.
Tatum then resold this equipment for personal profit without the company’s authorization, hiding his fraud by bulk purchasing merchandise that could be used for his department and faking invoice reports so the company would not suspect him. Tatum spent the proceeds of his fraud scheme on luxury items such as customized motorcycles, a boat, jet skis, and a large motor home.
The offense conduct resulted in a $436,243 loss for Clarkson Construction Company, and Tatum also used the money to obtain custom work on a motorcycle at Stedman Motorsports in Alabama, and then falsely reported it as fraudulent activity.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel M. Nelson. It was investigated by the FBI.
Tatum was sentenced on Oct. 27, 2014, in federal court in Kansas City, Mo.
Key Facts
- State: Missouri
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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