May 20, 2014

Machine Shop Worker Charged with Causing $1 Million Loss to Former Employer

VICTORIA, TX—A federal grand jury in Victoria has indicted Jack Kennedy, 55, of Houston, for perpetrating a multi-year mail and wire fraud scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Kennedy’s fraud is alleged to have resulted in more than a $1 million loss to his former employer, Alcoa World Alumina, aka Alcoa-Point Comfort Operations, located in Calhoun County.

Kennedy was arrested yesterday. The indictment was returned under seal May 14, 2014, and unsealed today as he made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jason B. Libby in Corpus Christi. At that time, he was ordered into custody pending a detention hearing and arraignment set for Friday, May 23, 2014, at 9:30 a.m.

According to the indictment, Kennedy was employed in the Alcoa machine shop, where he was responsible for inventorying and ordering parts, tools, and supplies. For nearly four years, he allegedly ordered large quantities of these expensive items, many of which were not needed. According to the charges, Kennedy would then steal the items and sell them at a wholesale discount to a metalworking supply and salvage company in Tonawanda, New York.

The indictment further alleges that between 2008 and 2011, the New York company routinely sent checks to Kennedy’s home address in Victoria via United Parcel Service totaling approximately $650,000. Kennedy would, in turn, mail boxes of the tools, parts, and supplies from a Home Depot retail location near his home in Victoria, according to the indictment.

If convicted, Kennedy faces up to 20 years in federal prison without parole and a fine of up to $250,000.

The FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey D. Preston and Hugo R. Martinez are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.