A manager who worked at Michelin North America pleaded guilty to wire fraud and faces up to 20 years in prison after a federal indictment alleged he used a company credit card to buy goods or services for his own use and he falsified expense-account vouchers, court records show.
Greenville-based Michelin North America suffered losses of more than $565,000 as a result of the scheme, federal prosecutors said. A final audit is pending, prosecutors said.
Mark Nigel Wilkins, 49, formerly of Lexington, worked for Michelin as a technical service manager, according to federal prosecutors and the indictment.
His duties included purchasing millions of dollars worth of items for the company each year, prosecutors said.
Wilkins couldn’t be reached for comment. He will be sentenced after completion of a pre-sentence investigative report.
He also faces a fine of up to $250,000, prosecutors said.
Wilkins paid for items with a company-issued credit card or his own funds for which he was reimbursed, according to prosecutors and court records.
Additionally, the indictment and prosecutors alleged Wilkins turned in false expense-account vouchers claiming he had made company purchases, which he hadn’t, and then was reimbursed.
On reimbursements to Wilkins, payment was made by wire transfer of funds from Michelin’s account at Citibank in Delaware to his bank account in South Carolina, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors and the indictment alleged that beginning in January, 2009, Wilkins began using the company-issued credit card for non-authorized items which he converted to his own use.
Additionally, Wilkins allegedly turned in false expense-account vouchers claiming he had made company purchases, which he had not, and received monetary reimbursements for those vouchers, according to prosecutors and the indictment.
The pattern of alleged theft continued until December, 2014, according to prosecutors and the indictment.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David C. Stephens of Greenville led the prosecution efforts.
“Michelin supports and thanks the federal prosecutors who carried out the indictment of this former employee,” according to a company statement Friday.
