Manhattan Accountant Pleads Guilty to Embezzling More Than $500,000

TOPEKA, KS—An accountant in Manhattan, Kansas has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $500,000 from the commercial construction company where he worked, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

Larry D. Lord, 63, of Manhattan, Kansas, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of filing a false tax return. In his plea, Lord admitted the crimes occurred from 1995 to 2012 while he worked as an accountant for Cheney Construction Incorporated in Manhattan, Kansas.

He used his position to embezzle funds from CCI’s bank account to pay his personal expenses, including his and his wife’s personal credit cards. Lord wrote checks on CCI’s bank account and mailed the checks to a credit card company. To conceal the crimes, he falsified the company’s check register log to make it appear the check was written to a legitimate payee. He wrote checks totaling $535,179. In addition, he failed to report the embezzled funds on his federal income tax, resulting in taxes owed for 2006 through 2011 of $103,962.

Sentencing is set for July 1. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years and a fine up to $250,000 on the mail fraud count and a maximum penalty of three years and a fine up to $250,000 on the income tax charge. Grissom commended the Internal Revenue Service, the FBI, the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Kenney for their work on the case.