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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