BECKLEY, W.Va. — A former branch manager for heavy equipment distributor Walker Machinery has admitted to stealing tens of thousands of dollars in rental fees from his employer.
According to a release from U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin’s Office, Mark Randall Trump, 43, of Cool Ridge, pleaded guilty Wednesday to wire fraud.
According to the release, from 2009 until the termination of his employment in April 2012, Trump offered certain customers special rates for equipment rentals without the company’s authorization. Those customers would then pay Trump, either with cash or a personal check, for the rentals and he would take the money and deposit it into his personal account.
To cover the scheme up, Trump entered the customer data into the company’s system and printed a matching rental agreement form. But when the equipment was returned, he would make entries into the company’s records indicating that the rental had been canceled, deleted from the computer system, or not invoiced at all.
The release states that Trump defrauded the company out of approximately $90,000 in rental fees. As a result, it was calculated the company incurred a loss of approximately $367,000.
During the scheme, Trump was a branch manager at Walker Express, Walker Machinery’s full-line rental service store based in Crab Orchard.
Trump faces up to 20 years in prison when sentence on April 17, 2014.