Utah man Kevin Scott Horton, 56, of Saratoga Springs, has been found guilty by a jury for orchestrating a massive $5.8 million fraud scheme against family-owned organic produce distributor Melissa’s World Variety Produce Inc.
Horton, along with Tony Anhtuan Rawlings, the IT director at Melissa’s, created a shell company called Creative Network Solutions (CNS) to send fake invoices for non-existent IT services. Over 18 years, this deceitful ploy bilked the distributor out of over $5.8 million.
According to evidence presented at trial, Horton and Rawlings used CNS to deceive Melissa’s executives into believing they were paying for legitimate services. The duo funneled the stolen funds through checks mailed to a post office box, with Horton depositing the proceeds into his personal bank account. Rawlings received a cut of the money through similar mail fraud methods.
Horton now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each of seven counts of mail fraud, while Rawlings pleaded guilty to one count and awaits sentencing. Both cases were investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Eli A. Alcaraz, Kelsey A. Stimson, and Haoxiaohan H. Cai.
The sentencing hearing for Horton is scheduled for August 5th, with Rawlings’ hearing set for June 20th.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes|White Collar Crime|Public Corruption
- Source: Official Source ↗
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