Hickory woman charged with embezzling $900K in Conover

Michelle Wilshire, 48, of Hickory, according to the indictment, was employed by a family-owned business in Conover.

The release did not name the business but a person who answered the phone at Tru-Pak Moving Systems in Conover said Wilshire no longer worked at the company.

The indictment says that from 2016 to 2021, Wilshire was in charge of the company’s Comdata account.

Comdata is a third-party payment processing and debit card issuing service. The company used Comdata for fleet management and as a payment service for drivers, according to the release.

The indictment says Wilshire executed a scheme to defraud her employer by issuing multiple Comdata prepaid debit cards in her name and in the names of other individuals, including former employees, fictitious employees, and current employees who were not aware the cards existed. Wilshire reportedly caused Comdata to load funds onto the prepaid debit cards, which the defendant then withdrew via ATM cash withdrawals. Between November 2017, and July 2021, Wilshire allegedly withdrew more than $528,000 from prepaid Comdata debit cards.

In addition to the debit card scheme, Wilshire reportedly embezzled company funds by using Comdata’s Comchek and Comchek Mobile services to issue checks in the defendant’s name and to make multiple wire transfers into Wilshire’s personal bank account, totaling over $315,000. Wilshire also caused more than $58,000 in company funds to be transferred through Comdata into the bank account of a former company employee, the indictment says.

Wilshire also prepared and filed individual income tax returns for tax years 2017 through 2021, which did not include the additional funds Wilshire received through her embezzlement scheme, according to allegations in the indictment,

Wilshire is charged with six counts of wire fraud, which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine per count; five counts of making and subscribing a false tax return, which carry a statutory maximum term of one year in prison per count; and two counts of money laundering which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction.

The charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law, the release issued by U.S. Attorney Dena J. King said.

Wilshire’s initial court appearance in Charlotte has been scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 29.