Western District of Washington California man pleads guilty to wire fraud for 1 million fraud scheme United States Department of Justice
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ppSeattle A 43yearold Laguna Niguel California man pleaded guilty today in US District Court in Seattle to wire fraud for his scheme to steal nearly 1 million from his employer announced Acting US Attorney Teal Luthy Miller Paul Joseph Welch was the IT manager of Kent Washington energy manufacturing company AlgasSDI when he used various schemes to steal more than 950000 from the company Welch is scheduled to be sentenced by US District Judge Jamal N Whitehead on August 21 2025ppAccording to records in the case Welch worked for the company from 2011 to 2024 He was promoted to Information Technology Manager in 2018 As early as 2017 Welch used the companys Amazon business account to make unauthorized personal purchases from Amazoncom Between 2017 and 2023 those purchases totaled at least 43000 Welch primarily purchased electronics such at televisions laptops and moreall for personal use In 2019 Welch began using his company credit card for personal purchases through other online retailers such as Apple Alaska Airlines Instacart and BestBuy Between 2019 and 2024 those unauthorized personal purchases totaled at least an additional 60000ppThe scheme really accelerated in January 2021 when Welch began making payments to himself disguised as payments to a computer services company Welch created a series of email addresses and payment processor accounts using a business name that was very similar to a legitimate computer services company based in Washington State Welch then used AlgasSDI company credit cards to pay the computer services company under the guise that the company was providing IT equipment and services to AlgasSDI However the legitimate computer services company had no relationship with Welch and never provided any services or equipment to AlgasSDI The credit card payments Welch made from AlgasSDIs credit cards went directly to the payment processor accounts that Welch controlled Between 2021 and 2024 Welch used this scheme to transfer approximately 879175 from company accounts to his own accountsppAlgasSDI tried to verify the legitimacy of Welchs activity on multiple occasions but each time Welch provided false or misleading information to cover up his scheme AlgasSDI employees asked Welch to submit invoices to substantiate his charges but Welch emailed phony documents designed to look like invoices from the legitimate computer services company At one point in 2023 an AlgasSDI accounting employee identified personal purchases on Welchs company credit card Welch claimed the charges were inadvertent and said he would repay the company Welch never repaid the charges and continued to defraud the company through unauthorized personal purchases and more fake vendor charges In January 2024 alone Welch submitted phony invoices to AlgasSDI showing that the computer services company had purportedly invoiced AlgasSDI more than 55000 for equipment and services in that timeframeppOn January 19 2024 AlgasSDI employees confronted Welch about the charges from the computer services company accounts that Welch controlled After Welch again told AlgasSDI that the vendor was a real vendor for the company the company fired himppThe wire fraud charge is representative of the overall scheme It represents the times Welch emailed the company false statements or invoices purported to be from a legitimate computer services companyppIn all between 2017 and January 2024 Welch secretly made at least 250 fraudulent charges for the thirdparty vendor he controlled He made at least 140 unauthorized purchases with retailers using the company credit card and at least 100 fraudulent purchases on the companys Amazon account While Welch profited some 950000 from his theft the loss to ALGASSDI was approximately 982520 due to various fees on the transactionsppWelch has agreed to make full restitution to the companyppWire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a 250000 fine Prosecutors have agreed to recommend no more than 27 months in prison The actual sentence will be determined by Judge Whitehead after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factorsppThe case was investigated by the FBI The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dane A WestermeyerppPress contact for the US Attorneys Office is Communications Director Emily Langlie at 206 5534110 or EmilyLanglieusdojgov ppSeattle An Indian national indicted for health care fraud will make his initial appearance today in US District Court in Seattle announced Acting US Attorney Teal Luthy Miller ppTacoma The former ClerkTreasurer for the City of Morton in Lewis County pleaded guilty today in US District Court in Tacoma to wire fraud in connection with her nineyearppSeattle The former ClerkTreasurer for the City of Morton in Lewis County is now charged federally with wire fraud in connection with her nineyear scheme to steal nearly 1ppWestern District of Washington
Seattle Main Office
United States Attorneys Office
700 Stewart Street Suite 5220
Seattle WA 981011271ppTelephone 206 5537970ppFax 206 5530882ppStay ConnectedppppHave a question about Government Servicesp
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ppSeattle A 43yearold Laguna Niguel California man pleaded guilty today in US District Court in Seattle to wire fraud for his scheme to steal nearly 1 million from his employer announced Acting US Attorney Teal Luthy Miller Paul Joseph Welch was the IT manager of Kent Washington energy manufacturing company AlgasSDI when he used various schemes to steal more than 950000 from the company Welch is scheduled to be sentenced by US District Judge Jamal N Whitehead on August 21 2025ppAccording to records in the case Welch worked for the company from 2011 to 2024 He was promoted to Information Technology Manager in 2018 As early as 2017 Welch used the companys Amazon business account to make unauthorized personal purchases from Amazoncom Between 2017 and 2023 those purchases totaled at least 43000 Welch primarily purchased electronics such at televisions laptops and moreall for personal use In 2019 Welch began using his company credit card for personal purchases through other online retailers such as Apple Alaska Airlines Instacart and BestBuy Between 2019 and 2024 those unauthorized personal purchases totaled at least an additional 60000ppThe scheme really accelerated in January 2021 when Welch began making payments to himself disguised as payments to a computer services company Welch created a series of email addresses and payment processor accounts using a business name that was very similar to a legitimate computer services company based in Washington State Welch then used AlgasSDI company credit cards to pay the computer services company under the guise that the company was providing IT equipment and services to AlgasSDI However the legitimate computer services company had no relationship with Welch and never provided any services or equipment to AlgasSDI The credit card payments Welch made from AlgasSDIs credit cards went directly to the payment processor accounts that Welch controlled Between 2021 and 2024 Welch used this scheme to transfer approximately 879175 from company accounts to his own accountsppAlgasSDI tried to verify the legitimacy of Welchs activity on multiple occasions but each time Welch provided false or misleading information to cover up his scheme AlgasSDI employees asked Welch to submit invoices to substantiate his charges but Welch emailed phony documents designed to look like invoices from the legitimate computer services company At one point in 2023 an AlgasSDI accounting employee identified personal purchases on Welchs company credit card Welch claimed the charges were inadvertent and said he would repay the company Welch never repaid the charges and continued to defraud the company through unauthorized personal purchases and more fake vendor charges In January 2024 alone Welch submitted phony invoices to AlgasSDI showing that the computer services company had purportedly invoiced AlgasSDI more than 55000 for equipment and services in that timeframeppOn January 19 2024 AlgasSDI employees confronted Welch about the charges from the computer services company accounts that Welch controlled After Welch again told AlgasSDI that the vendor was a real vendor for the company the company fired himppThe wire fraud charge is representative of the overall scheme It represents the times Welch emailed the company false statements or invoices purported to be from a legitimate computer services companyppIn all between 2017 and January 2024 Welch secretly made at least 250 fraudulent charges for the thirdparty vendor he controlled He made at least 140 unauthorized purchases with retailers using the company credit card and at least 100 fraudulent purchases on the companys Amazon account While Welch profited some 950000 from his theft the loss to ALGASSDI was approximately 982520 due to various fees on the transactionsppWelch has agreed to make full restitution to the companyppWire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a 250000 fine Prosecutors have agreed to recommend no more than 27 months in prison The actual sentence will be determined by Judge Whitehead after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factorsppThe case was investigated by the FBI The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dane A WestermeyerppPress contact for the US Attorneys Office is Communications Director Emily Langlie at 206 5534110 or EmilyLanglieusdojgov ppSeattle An Indian national indicted for health care fraud will make his initial appearance today in US District Court in Seattle announced Acting US Attorney Teal Luthy Miller ppTacoma The former ClerkTreasurer for the City of Morton in Lewis County pleaded guilty today in US District Court in Tacoma to wire fraud in connection with her nineyearppSeattle The former ClerkTreasurer for the City of Morton in Lewis County is now charged federally with wire fraud in connection with her nineyear scheme to steal nearly 1ppWestern District of Washington
Seattle Main Office
United States Attorneys Office
700 Stewart Street Suite 5220
Seattle WA 981011271ppTelephone 206 5537970ppFax 206 5530882ppStay ConnectedppppHave a question about Government Servicesp
