YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY

Springfield, MO

Log in Subscribe

Former Prime affiliate employee sentenced for fraud

Posted online
A former employee of Success Leasing Inc., an affiliate of Springfield trucking company Prime Inc., was sentenced this week for embezzling $945,000 from the business.

Travis Honaker, 36, of Battlefield, was sentenced Sept. 16 to 37 months in federal prison without parole and ordered to pay $945,200 in restitution, according to a news release from the office of Tammy Dickinson, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Honaker - who was employed by Success Leasing as a salesman of used equipment such as auxiliary power units - pleaded guilty in March to a wire fraud and money laundering scheme.

From August 2007 to December 2011, Honaker embezzled $945,200 and used the illegally obtained funds for personal expenses, including a 2005 BMW SUV, a 2009 Range Rover SUV, a down payment and subsequent mortgage payments on a residence in Battlefield and his wife’s extensive gambling debts, according to the release.

Prime terminated Honaker's employment after discovering he was failing to report cash payments for auxiliary power units he sold and was taking unauthorized finder's fees, inspection fees or deposits on trucks owned by Prime that he sold. Honaker charged several of Prime's largest clients these fees - which typically amounted to $500 or $1,000 per truck, depending on the vehicle's age or condition - and did not report the payments to his employer.

To pocket the finder's fees and deposits, Honaker created a shell company, T&H Consulting LLC, in January 2011. Funds wired to the company's account were transferred to Honaker's personal bank accounts, according to the release.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Milligan and was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Springfield Police Department.[[In-content Ad]]

Comments

No comments on this story |
Please log in to add your comment
Editors' Pick
From the Ground Up: Republic Intermediate School

The Republic School District is on track to open its Intermediate School for fifth- and sixth-grade students for the 2025-26 academic year.

Most Read
Update cookies preferences