A Washington, Indiana man has been sentenced to a two-year stint in the big house for his role in an elaborate scheme to swindle over $1 million from his employer and dodge taxes exceeding $300,000. Brandon Alford, 47, got handed a sentence that also includes one year of supervised release, after he pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and a quintet count of tax evasion.
Not only is Alford on the hook to serve time, but he's also been ordered to cough up $1,006,500 in restitution to his former employer, and another $319,793.02 to the Internal Revenue Service, as uncovered in court documents and detailed by a U.S. Attorney's Office. Alford, who was employed as a service writer by a heavy equipment supplier, set his plan in motion by creating a sham company named A&D Distributing LLC back in 2017. He then roped in a retailer to unknowingly participate in his scam, invoicing them for parts that would turn out to be nothing more than smoke and mirrors.
From the tail end of 2017 through the start of 2023, this service writer turned con artist submitted 25 bogus invoices on behalf of his mock-up distributor, securing a handsome sum of $939,500, all while his employer footed a bill over a million dollars for zilch. Alford's position within the company provided him the perfect cover to approve and pay out these fraudulent claims, ensuring a steady stream into the dummy account of A&D Distributing.
In what appears to be an attempt to play the system, Alford also skimped on his tax duties from 2017 to 2022—amassing a tax evasion tab north of $250,000. "This defendant abused his position of trust and professional relationships to steal a million dollars from his unsuspecting employer, cheat on his taxes, and cover up his crimes," said Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, in a statement that shines light on the gravity of white-collar crimes. The FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation crews were the masterminds behind the investigation of this case, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The sentencing occurred in the court of U.S. District Judge Matthew P. Brookman, with the prosecutorial zeal of Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew B. Miller seeing Alford's transgressions meet justice. While Brandon Alford has his freedoms revoked, it stands as a reminder that, such elaborate deceptions are not merely games of cat and mouse but serious offenses that cause real harm and that will not be taken lightly by federal law enforcement.
