Jon Robert Rush, 56, of Keller, Texas, was sentenced today to 51 months in federal prison and ordered to pay over $1 million in restitution after pleading guilty to wire fraud earlier this year, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Leigha Simonton.
Rush, who once served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for a logistics and transportation company in the DFW area, defrauded his employer from 2016 to 2020. The company, which provides transportation for military, defense contractors, and disaster relief organizations, was targeted by Rush, who misappropriated funds to pay off his personal debts.
Court documents reveal that Rush transferred company funds to bank accounts he controlled and then recorded the transactions in the company’s internal accounting software to conceal the fraud. He disguised the transfers by using the names of legitimate vendors the company regularly did business with.
The financial fallout from Rush’s actions went beyond the company, with the majority shareholders revealing they faced significant debt, employee layoffs, and the closure of one of their related companies due to the fraud.
Rush's previous conviction for conspiracy to commit counterfeit check fraud and wire fraud in 1994 was cited during sentencing, contributing to the court's decision to impose the prison term without a downward variance.
Rush was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr, who also ordered him to pay $1,062,459.49 in restitution to the victims. The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Dimitri Rocha prosecuted the case.
