Former Nike marketing manager pleads guilty to embezzling nearly $1.5 million
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PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) — Former Nike marketing manager pleaded guilty on Monday, to wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements on a loan application in an attempt to defraud his former employer, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug.
In the summer of 2016, Errol Andam, 49, and a childhood friend established a company to design and build the pop-up venues as an independent contractor for Nike, according to court documents. Andam used his authority as a manager to ensure his friend’s company was consistently awarded contracts.
Despite not having control over his friend’s company, Andam took control of much of the company’s financial operations, managing financial accounts and issuing invoices to Nike using by using an alter ego, “Frank Little.” He also used this same alias to manage the contract account using Square. That same year Andam also renewed a defunct Oregon-based limited liability corporation (LLC) he owned to funnel money diverted from Nike and his friend’s company to accounts to personal control.
According to court documents, from Sept. to Dec. 2016, Andam diverted and embezzled nearly $1.5 million in Nike proceeds.
In 2018, he submitted a fake financial statement from his LLC in support of a residential mortgage loan application. The statement showed that $194,000 in forfeited checks were drawn from a bank account owned by his friend’s business. Andam also forged his friend’s signature on one of the checks and withdrew much of that money without his friend’s knowledge.
Andam was charged with criminal information with wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements on a loan application on Feb. 4.
Under the plea agreement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will recommend a sentence of 37 months in federal prison when he is sentenced on July 12. Andam will ask for a 24-month sentence and has agreed to pay more than $1.6 million in restitution and forfeit $212,838 in criminally-derived proceeds.
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