A former Walker Machinery branch manager has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Beckley, W. Va., after pocketing more than $90,000 in rental fees, according to online news reports. The State Journal and the West Virginia Metro News reported that Mark Randall Trump, while managing Walker’s Crab Orchard, W. Va., store, offered certain customers special rates on equipment rentals without the company’s authorization, and would have the customer pay him directly by cash or check. Trump would then enter the customer data into the computer system and then print a matching rental agreement, and when the equipment was returned, he would update the records to show the rental had been cancelled, deleted from the system or not invoiced at all.
U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin said Trump collected about $90,000 in rental fees for his personal use, causing the company to lose approximately $367,000.
Trump faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud, Goodwin said. Trump worked the fraudulent scheme from 2009 through his dismissal from Walker in April 2012.
The investigation was conducted by the West Virginia State Police and the FBI. Sentencing is scheduled for April 2014.
