El Dorado County man pleads guilty to embezzling $400,000

El Dorado Hills resident Jeffrey Lamson, 51, pleaded guilty today to wire fraud in connection with a scheme to embezzle money from his former employer.

According to court documents, from at least 2009 through 2011, Lamson embezzled over $400,000 from a company located in Placer and Sacramento Counties while he served that company as controller. Lamson used company funds to make unauthorized payments to himself and others and made payments to a fictitious vendor, controlled by Lamson, for services that were never performed.

The name of the company is not public record and was not released by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or Department of Justice (DOJ)

This case is the product of an investigation by the IRS-Criminal Investigation and its Financial Crimes Task Force. Assistant United States Attorneys Shelley D. Weger and Jean M. Hobler prosecuted the case.

Lamson is currently out of custody, and scheduled to be sentenced by Judge John A. Mendez on November 24, 2015. Lamson faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine or twice the gain or loss caused by the fraud. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

- South Tahoe Now Staff Report