Federal prosecutors have charged Thomas Hinson Jr. with five counts of wire fraud for embezzling $11 million from the scrap metal broker Strickland Trading Inc., based in Shoal Creek, Alabama. Hinson was chief financial officer (CFO) of the company when he committed the theft.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Hinson with five counts of wire fraud for depositing checks stolen from Strickland Trading Inc. into the account of Strickland Trading Co. LLC, a company Hinson formed to perpetrate the theft.
The five wire fraud counts represent five of the more than 225 checks totaling more than $11.2 million that were intended for Strickland Trading Inc., but which Hinson deposited into his Strickland Trading Co. LLC account between April 2007 and April 2016.
In conjunction with the charges, prosecutors have filed a plea agreement with Hinson in which he acknowledges the embezzlement and has agreed to plead guilty to the fraud charges. He also agreed to pay restitution of $11.2 million and to forfeit his interest in properties in Huntsville and Birmingham, Alabama; Virginia Beach, Virginia.; Lutz, Florida; and Sevierville, Tennessee.
According to the court documents, Hinson was a certified public accountant in private practice who worked for Strickland Trading Inc. from 1991 to April 2016. In 2000, he began working as Strickland Trading Inc.’s CFO. In April 2007, Hinson filed documents with the state of Alabama creating Strickland Trading Co. LLC and provided the name and address of a friend as its organizer so he could conceal his own association with the new company.
Using the similarity in the names of the two companies, Hinson took checks mailed to Strickland Trading Inc. by its customers and deposited them into his Strickland Trading Co. LLC account for his personal use. He made false entries in the financial records of Strickland Trading Inc., prepared false financial statements and made other false representations to Strickland Trading Inc. corporate officers to conceal his embezzlement.
Arraignment is slated for Feb. 9, 2017.
The maximum penalty for wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
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