BRYAN, Texas - A Texas man is headed to federal prison after defrauding an oil company out of over $850,000.
James Day Burke, 59, admitted to the wire fraud, according to U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.
He pleaded guilty May 12 of defrauding Rustex Inc., an oil and energy company in Bryan.
U.S. District Judge George C. Hanks handed Burke a 41-month sentence to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release.
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According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Burke was employed as the bookkeeper at Rustex from May 2010 to August 2018. During that time, Burke made unauthorized charges on company credit cards for personal expenses. He then paid those charges from Rustex’s bank account.
By the numbers (According to the Department of Justice)
- Burke accessed Rustex’s American Express account Aug. 7, 2015, to pay the July 2015 statement totaling $32,198.70.
- This amount included a personal dental charge of $1,954 which he had made using another employee’s company-issued credit card. He paid the outstanding credit card bill with money from Rustex’s bank account.
- In total, Burke defrauded the company out of $855,872.42 as a result of his scheme.