Accountant Receives 6-year Federal Sentence for Theft

A Gainesville accountant was sentenced to six years in a federal prison for stealing  $3.3 million from the Chantilly company he worked for, according to U.S. Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officials.

Melvin Mooring,54, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion charges in March and received his prison sentence this month, along with three years of supervised release.

U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady also ordered him to pay more than $3.5 million in restitution to his victims, according to a Department of Justice press release.

An investigation revealed that Mooring was the chief financial officer for 10 years at K&R Industries in Chantilly, the target of the thefts.

Prosecutors said Moore stole $3.3. million from the company between 2004 and 2011 and used it to fund a plush personal lifestyle which included a luxurious home, trips and a BMW.

He used company checks and wire transfers to route the money through the bank account of a company he controlled. He concealed the crime by altering company financial statements, investigators said.

Federal authorities said Mooring didn't report the stolen funds as income on his individual income tax returns for the years 2005 through 2010, resulting in about $865,426 in losses to the U.S. Treasury.

The case was investigated by officials with the IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul J. Nathanson and tax division trial attorney Tracy L. Gostyla prosecuted the case.