A man was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison by Honorable Clifton L. Corker, from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee in Greeneville, for one count of wire fraud and one count of subscribing a false tax return.
Jack D. Vicars, currently of Bluff City, TN, agreed to plead guilty as part of the plea agreement filed with the court. Following Vicars imprisonment, he will be on supervised release for three years. According to court documents, Vicars began working as a Project Manager for a large construction company in Johnson City, and by 2018, he was promoted to the position of Vice President. He routinely oversaw projects and reviewed and approved invoices submitted by subcontractors working on projects.
Vicars eventually formed his own company and began submitting fraudulent invoices from his company for fictitious work that was not performed. Vicars would use his position and authority to approve those invoices, resulting in payments issued by his employer to Vicars’ company. He used the money he stole to pay personal expenses like personal credit cards. In total, Vicars stole $344,650 from his employer.
He also filed a false tax return in 2019, in which he failed to disclose money stole, resulting in understated income and an unpaid tax liability of $33,699.14. The fraud took place over a period spanning from 2016 through February 2021.
The prosecution was a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. FBI Special Agent Reanna O’Hare and IRS CI Special Agent Jimmy Cline led the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Mac D. Heavener represented the United States.
