Michelle Wilshire, a 50-year-old resident of Hickory, North Carolina, has been sentenced to 46 months in prison for embezzling over $900,000 from her employer. This was announced by Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Following her prison term, Wilshire will also serve two years of supervised release.
The announcement was made with contributions from Donald “Trey” Eakins, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation Charlotte Field Office, and Rodney Hopkins, Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Court documents reveal that between 2016 and 2021, Wilshire worked at a family-owned business in Conover, North Carolina, referred to as Company A. During this period, she managed the company's Comdata account used for fleet management and payment services. Wilshire executed her scheme by issuing multiple prepaid debit cards through Comdata under various names including her own and those of other individuals such as former employees and fictitious persons. She then loaded funds onto these cards and withdrew over $528,000 via ATM withdrawals between November 2017 and July 2021.
Additionally, Wilshire misappropriated company funds using Comdata’s Comchek services to issue checks in her name and conduct wire transfers to her personal bank account amounting to more than $315,000. Furthermore, she transferred over $58,000 into the bank account of a former employee.
Wilshire also filed false individual income tax returns from 2017 through 2021 by omitting the embezzled funds from her declarations.
On July 15, 2024, she pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and filing a false tax return.
U.S. Attorney Ferguson expressed gratitude towards IRS-CI and USPIS for their investigative efforts on this case. The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Savage along with Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Frick from the Charlotte office.
