EARLING, Iowa. (WOWT/Gray News) – An Iowa man has been sentenced to jail for using business-related credit cards to buy $140,000 worth of prepaid gift cards, Pokemon cards and other gaming items.
Mitch William Gross, 34, was sentenced Friday to four months in federal prison for wire fraud, according to a press release from the Southern District of Iowa’s U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Court documents indicate Gross defrauded his employer, Ruan Transportation Corp., with personal purchases from September 2021 to October 2022. Authorities say he used business-related credit cards to buy prepaid gift cards, Pokemon cards and gaming items totaling over $140,000.
Gross then submitted falsified receipts and “mischaracterized fraudulent charges” on his expense reports in order to make the purchases look like business expenses, according to the news release.
Along with his sentence, Gross was ordered to pay $146,590.15 in restitution for the purchases. After he is out of prison, he will be under supervised release for three years.
The FBI and the Des Moines Police Department investigated this case.
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