Daimler Truck North America is seeking $6.6 million in a civil lawsuit accusing former fleet supervisor Terry Watson and his wife, Krystal Watson, of misusing company funds. The complaint alleges nearly $3.8 million in personal spending over five years, including travel, home services and food delivery.
Terry Watson had worked in Daimler Truck North America’s Portland test fleet operations since 2016 and was fired in November 2025, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive. The lawsuit alleges he falsified billing records and charged personal expenses—including trips to Europe, Las Vegas and Legoland—to company credit cards. Daimler Truck is seeking $6.6 million, including the alleged $3.8 million loss and legal fees and court costs, according to Wisevoter.
One detail in the lawsuit’s timeline is a set of 35 emails Krystal Watson sent her husband in October 2025, itemizing personal charges on a corporate credit card, according to The Daily Chronicle. Daimler Truck flagged suspicious activity on the card the following month and fired Terry Watson.
A Scheme That Stretched Far Beyond Gas Money
The lawsuit alleges Terry Watson mischaracterized some personal purchases as “materials/tools” and “safety equipment.” It also accuses him of taking employee-recognition gift cards and sometimes selling them for cash, and of using company funds for expenses including legal and real estate services, spas, sports clubs, housecleaners, child care, restaurants and meal delivery. Krystal Watson is separately accused of using another employee’s corporate card for personal Uber Eats purchases nearly every day.
Daimler Truck also named a local construction firm and a landscaping business as co-defendants, alleging they billed the company's North Portland offices directly for work performed at the Watson family's Hillsboro residence — a detail reported by the same Chronicle account. Representatives for firms with matching names said they were unfamiliar with the accusations. The Watsons could not be reached for comment.
Daimler Truck described the alleged conduct as an “extensive scheme to defraud the company” and said it takes misappropriation of company resources seriously and is pursuing the matter in court. The company declined to answer further questions, citing pending litigation. It remains unclear whether Daimler Truck reported the allegations to police, and Oregon has no record of criminal charges against the Watsons in connection with the case.
What broader fraud research can—and cannot—show
The lawsuit alleges that the conduct lasted five years and caused nearly $3.8 million in losses. Those figures are claims by Daimler Truck, not findings by a court.
Fraud examiners also note that employee tips remain the single most effective way workplace schemes get uncovered, accounting for nearly half of all identified cases — a pattern echoed loosely here, where emails itemized personal charges and the company later flagged suspicious card activity. Under Oregon law, civil conversion claims must be filed within six years after the injury, while fraud claims must be filed within two years of discovery, according to White & Shepherd LLP.
The scope of the fraud benchmark
The South Carolina Office of Inspector General says ACFE’s 2024 biennial Report to the Nations analyzed 1,921 occupational fraud cases across 138 countries and territories. That describes the report’s breadth; it does not, by itself, establish whether the losses or timeline alleged in Daimler’s lawsuit are typical.
Fraud Allegations Land Amid Major Swan Island Changes
The case surfaces as Daimler Truck North America is in the middle of reshaping its Portland footprint. The company opened a new $40 million, 110,000-square-foot engineering building called Corp 42 on Swan Island in July, consolidating research and vehicle testing across 32 shop bays for its roughly 3,000 Portland-area employees — a project Hoodline previously covered.
The engineering facility’s stated purpose
Daimler Truck North America said its approximately 110,000-square-foot engineering facility would bring testing activities together and focus research and development on emerging propulsion technologies, including battery-electric and hydrogen-fueled vehicles, according to the company.
Even as it expands its local research and development presence, Daimler Truck has been winding down its historical Freightliner and Western Star truck assembly lines on Swan Island, shifting heavy manufacturing to plants in North and South Carolina. The company has also been building out its industrial footprint elsewhere in the metro area, partnering with Prologis this year on a 270,000-square-foot aftermarket parts distribution facility in Northeast Portland near the airport. The embezzlement allegations, then, land at a moment when Daimler Truck's Swan Island campus is pivoting from assembly-line manufacturing toward high-dollar design, testing and logistics investment — raising the stakes for a company already managing a major operational transition.
