Tacoma man convicted of embezzling $2 million from his former employer headed to prison
A Tacoma man who embezzled over $2 million from an online car-sales company he worked for faces more than 11 years in prison, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.
John Whisenant, 42, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on Wednesday for wire fraud, scheming to defraud his employer and fleeing from law enforcement prior to his sentencing, the release said. Whisenant also was convicted in federal court for wire fraud in 2017 and for multiple credit card and check fraud crimes in state court over the last 20 years.
The release gave the following details of the events leading up to Whisenant's sentencing:
Whisenant began working for an online used-car sales company in October 2018. About a year later, he was promoted to a position that allowed him to access the company's bank accounts and accounting software.
Using that access, Whisenant transferred over $2 million from the business to his personal accounts from around June 2019 to November 2021. He made 57 wire transfers, disguising them as legitimate business expenses by making false entries in the company's books. Prosecutors wrote that his actions ''traumatized' his coworkers ... destabilized (the company's finances and inflicted significant financial hardship on its largest shareholder, his family, and other investors,' according to the release.
Records filed in the case indicate Whisenant spent some of the money on luxury cars, including Porches and Mercedes, a 2022 Audi E-Tron and a Tesla, along with renting luxury homes in Southern California and buying two $23,000 airline tickets to Paris. He spent over $1 million paying off credit-card debt.
Whisenant's activities were discovered when a bookkeeper started 'a more comprehensive review of the company's financials in January 2022,' the release said. Whisenant resigned from his position in February 2022.
Law enforcement arrested Whisenant in July 2023, and he pleaded guilty in March 2024. Before his scheduled sentencing in July 2024, he emailed his pretrial-services officer with the message, 'I'm not ready to go to jail yet,' according to the release. Whisenant then attempted to evade police, hiding his whereabouts by swapping out the SIM card in his phone and supporting himself by dealing drugs, including methamphetamine, GHB, Viagra and other pills, according to the news release.
He has agreed to pay back the full balance of his embezzled frauds at $2,084,779, according to the release.
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Feb. 2025 Rear Entertainment Screen Behind the Headrest of Front Driver/ Co-Pilot Seat Rear Ceiling Screen Other Layout Methods Trends of Rear Entertainment Screen Layout: Differentiated by Vehicle Model Cabin Space Summary of Models Equipped with Rear Entertainment Screens Installation of Rear Entertainment Screens in China's Passenger Car Market in 2024: Concentrated in High-priced Luxury SUVs and MPVs Trends of Automotive Display Technology Development Trend of Automotive Display Technology Under The Intelligent Cockpit Global Shipment Trends of Different Automotive Display Technologies Comparison Between Automotive Mini LED Camp and OLED Camp Trends of OLED Automotive Display Technology Advantages of OLED Automotive Display Technology Classification of Automotive OLED Backplane Technology Iteration Process of OLED Automotive Display Size Automotive Display Panels Are Transitioning from LCD to OLED Global Automotive OLED Market: Samsung Display and LGD Dominate Summary of OLED Product Applications of New Models Launched in 2024 Summary of OLED Automotive Display Supplier Deployment Trends of Mini LED Automotive Display Technology Mini LED Automotive Display Supply Chain Mini LED Automotive Display Technology Advantages Mini LED Automotive Display Technical Difficulties Mini LED Automotive Display Backlight Module Technology Route Combination Comparison of Major Mini LED Driving Technologies Hindrance for Mini LED Large-scale Installed in Cars Opportunities and Directions for Mini LED Installed in Cars OEMs and Panel Manufacturers Are Actively Deploying Mini LED Backlight Automotive Displays, Driving The industry Chain Summary of Models with Mini LED Automotive Display Summary of Mini LED Automotive Display Suppliers' Deployment Trends of Micro LED Automotive Display Technology Micro LED Process Challenges Micro LED Automotive Display Technology Advantages Main Advantages of Micro LED Displays Five Major Technical Challenges of Micro LED Automotive Display Micro LED Automotive Display Application Trends Micro LED Automotive Display Technology Continues to Advance Summary of Micro LED Automotive Display Installation Summary of Micro LED Automotive Display Suppliers' Deployment Forward-looking Applications of Automotive Display Covers Anti-Peep Privacy Technology, Transparent Display, Rollable /Foldable Display, One Screen with Multiple Viewing Angles, P2P Display, etc. 3 Automotive Display Data instillation of LCD Clusters in Passenger Cars in China Instillations and Instillation Rate of LCD Clusters in Passenger Cars in China Market Share of Domestic Passenger Car Full LCD Cluster Suppliers: By Size Instillations and Instillation Rate of Full LCD Cluster in Passenger Cars in China (by Model and Price Range) Instillations and Instillation Rate of Full LCD Cluster in Passenger Cars in China (TOP 15 Brands) Instillations and Instillation Rate of Full LCD Cluster in Passenger Cars in China (TOP 15 Models) Proportion of LCD Cluster Suppliers in Passenger Cars in China Installation of Cluster-free Models instillation of Co-pilot Screens in Passenger Cars in China instillation of Combined Display in Passenger Cars in China installation of Rear Entertainment Screens in Passenger Cars in China 4 Global Automotive Display System Tier 1 Suppliers Continental Denso Visteon Bosch FORVIA Marelli Desay SV ADAYO Hangsheng Electronics Huawei Tianyouwei Electronics Mobis Yuanfeng Technology Others Appotronics Harman 5 Global Automotive Display Panel Suppliers JDI LG Display Tianma Microelectronics BOE TCL CSOT AU Optronics innolux Corporation Visionox HIWAY Technology HKC Huaqin Technology Beidou intelligent Connected Vehicle Technology Co., Ltd. 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