A federal grand jury in Alaska returned an indictment last week charging an Alabama man with wire fraud and tax evasion after he allegedly defrauded a local Anchorage business while serving as their general manager.
According to court documents, in 2008, James Wohlers, 56, of Deatsville, Alabama, was hired by GBR Equipment/Oilfield Services (GBR), an Anchorage-based business that provides oilfield services on the North Slope and elsewhere, as their human resource manager.
In 2009, Wohlers became their general manager, overseeing vendor interface, employee hiring, payroll and accounting. His responsibilities included coordinating wire transfers from GBR’s bank account to outside accounts.
In 2019, an audit was completed on the company’s finances and bank records after employees determined the company was earning sufficient revenue but could not pay vendors and employees.
The audit revealed that from at least 2013 to 2019, Wohlers allegedly executed wire transfers from the GBR account that did not benefit the company and allegedly used GBR’s corporate credit cards for personal expenses, like paying personal credit card bills.
The indictment alleges that in 2015, Wohlers formed a partnership named BGI Industrial Services (BGI), registered with the Alabama Secretary of State. In 2017, GBR performed services for two companies.
Wohlers allegedly sent both companies invoices from BGI for $25,000 and $2,500, respectively, and both companies paid the invoices. The money was deposited into BGI’s bank account. Wohlers also allegedly used GBR credit cards to pay for business expenses related to BGI and used employees paid by GBR to complete work on behalf of BGI.
In late 2015, Wohlers announced GBR employee pay cuts of 5 to 10 per cent, along with other restrictive measures to address GBR’s poor financial condition. A few months later, Wohlers announced additional GBR employee pay cuts of 5 to 15 per cent.
Within two weeks of making his second announcement, Wohlers allegedly used over $43,000 of GBR’s funds to pay for airfare and other expenses related to a personal trip to China.
Wohlers was terminated by GBR in August 2019, and the company sent the defendant a demand letter stating he owed GBR $1.5 million. After being terminated, Wohlers allegedly deleted roughly 10,000 emails from GBR’s servers.
Wohlers is charged with one count of wire fraud and three counts of tax evasion. The defendant is scheduled for his initial court appearance on January 10 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew M. Scoble of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
