The co-owner of Kodiak Precision, Inc., a machined component manufacturer located at 444 S. 1st St. in Richmond, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of wire fraud and money laundering in connection wtih an alleged scheme to divert tens of thousands of dollars owed to the company to his personal bank accounts, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Neil Divers, 64, of Chico, allegedly used the funds to “maintain his personal lifestyle,” federal prosecutors said. Following an investigation by the IRS’ Criminal Investigations unit, Divers was reportedly arrested in Texas on Wednesday morning.
Fellow owners of Kodiak Precision discovered back in 2015 that Divers had been taking money from the company without authorization. Despite implementation of new controls and procedures to prevent this, Divers, who maintained his ownership position, “orchestrated a scheme to get around the controls and procedures,” prosecutors said.
He allegedly opened new bank accounts in the name of Kodiak, establishing himself as the only signatory, and instructed an employee to have customers deposit funds owed to Kodiak into new, unauthorized bank accounts.
The indictment charges Divers with five counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering. Each wire fraud count has a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine in the amount of $250,000, while each count of money-laundering has a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine in the amount of $250,000, according to prosecutors.
Divers is scheduled to make his initial appearance in a court in Oakland on June 1.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Rees is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Leeya Kekona. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the IRS-CI.
