Sunnyvale Man Pleads Guilty to Tax Crimes

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Cory Beck, 39, of Sunnyvale, pleaded guilty today to three counts of filing false tax returns, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, Beck worked in the information technology department of an electric vehicle and clean energy company based in Palo Alto. In his position, Beck had access to the company’s inventory of Apple MacBooks. From October 2015 through March 2018, Beck stole MacBooks from the company and sold them for cash. In total, Beck made over $220,000 from selling the stolen laptops. He failed to report any of the cash he received from the sales on his tax returns for 2015, 2016, and 2017, which were processed in Fresno.

This case is a product of an investigation by the IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Thuesen is prosecuting the case.

U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller is scheduled to sentence Beck on Jan. 4. Beck faces a maximum statutory penalty of three years in prison and a $100,000 fine on each of the three counts to which he pleaded guilty. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the court’s discretion after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.