Manhattan Accountant Sentenced For Embezzling More Than $500,000

TOPEKA, KAN. – An accountant in Manhattan, Kan., has been sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for embezzling from a commercial construction company where he worked, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today. He was ordered to pay more than $640,000 in restitution.

Larry D. Lord, 64, Manhattan, Kan., 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 2005 to 2012 while he worked as an accountant for Cheney Construction Incorporated in Manhattan, Kan.

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.

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.