Springfield CPA sentenced for fraud scheme

A Springfield certified public accountant has been sentenced for embezzling money from a family trust.

Ray Leonard Marple, 63, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay a combined $501,692 to his victim and the Internal Revenue Service, according to a news release from the office of R. Matthew Price, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri. Marple faced one count of wire fraud and one count of submitting false taxes.

Marple previously operated his own accounting firm since 1999, according to past reporting. 

While serving in his position as a CPA, Marple was the executor of a family trust, according to the release. Marple made multiple financial transactions to embezzle $415,482.

He also filed false tax returns in 2018, 2019 and 2020, federal prosecutors said.