A Texas man was sentenced to 12 months and one day in federal prison for laundering money from a jointly owned business based in Richmond, federal authorities said.
Neil Divers, 66, pleaded guilty on July 17 to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey. He lives in Godley, Texas, but previously lived in Chico.
The diver will also have to pay compensation, the amount of which will be determined at a public hearing on January 7th. After his prison sentence, which begins on January 10, Diver will serve three years of supervised release, authorities announced.
In 2015, Divers owned and operated a Richmond-based machined parts manufacturing company called Kodiak Precision, authorities said. In 2016, the company’s other owners took steps to prevent divers from receiving company money without the permission of at least one other owner, citing past events.
Authorities say the divers circumvented these precautions by opening bank accounts in the name of Kodiak, the sole signatory of the accounts, from around July 2016 to May 2018. The other owners did not know about or consent to these accounts. Diver then had another employee instruct some customers to deposit funds into these accounts.
The divers then used some of this money to support his lifestyle, such as $38,217.84 in August 2019 to pay for landscaping services on his home.
The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge John S. Tigar.
First Published: November 1, 2024 7:53pm PDT
