Former Employee Admits Embezzling $339,000 from St. Louis County Company

ST. LOUIS – A man from Waterloo, Illinois on Thursday admitted embezzling $339,844 from his former employer. 

Ronald Scott Miller, 54, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark to one count of wire fraud and admitted using several schemes between March 27, 2014 and Sept. 29, 2020, to steal the money.

Miller was the warehouse and labor supervisor for a small floor covering business in St. Louis County, responsible for supervising the company’s installers, scheduling their weekly shifts and drafting their timesheets. He also had the authority to hire flooring installers. 

Miller submitted false timesheets for himself, his partner and his son. His partner did not work for the company, but Miller submitted timesheets anyway, then collected the paycheck and forged his partner’s signature to deposit it in his own account.

Miller falsely inflated the hours worked by his son without his son's knowledge and did the same for himself by claiming he was working on installation projects when he was not. 

Miller also submitted fraudulent invoices in the name of two fake companies, claiming he had made purchases there. Miller created accounts with Square Inc. in the names of those companies so he could pay himself with company credit cards or caused the company to issue checks to pay the fake invoices. 

Finally, Miller altered and inflated receipts for legitimate purchases that he made and then sought reimbursement from his company. 

Miller is scheduled to be sentenced December 28. The wire fraud charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.

The FBI and the Maryland Heights Police Department investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman is prosecuting the case.