Crime & Safety
Ex-VP of DG-Based Business Used Car Company to Steal $3.9 Million
Stephen Brazile used a car company in his name to embezzle $3.9 million from his employer.
A former vice president of a company that was based in Downers Grove was sentenced Wednesday to four years in federal prison for a fraudulent billing scheme in which he handled 100-plus company checks totaling more than $3.9 million—and kept the money for himself.
Steven M. Brazile, of St. Louis, used a portion of the stolen funds to operate a classic car business. He had pleaded guilty to interstate transportation of fraudulently obtained securities last July in U.S. District Court, according to a release from the Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall Samborn.
Brazile, 52, was working as vice president in the victim company’s St. Louis office where he managed the information technology functions. He must pay $3,902,880 in restitution and forfeiture; he will begin serving his 48-month sentence on Jan. 7, 2014, as sentenced by U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo.
He also agreed to hand over approximately $375,000 in funds that were seized or will be turned over from various bank and brokerage accounts, as well as 24 automobiles including classic cars, approximately $180,000 in proceeds from the sale of several classic automobiles, and a commercial property he owned in St. Louis.
Brazile admitted that between December 2006 and December 2009 he approved false invoices supposedly from vendors for transactions that never took place. The company issued approximately 104 checks totaling slightly more than $3.9 million. Brazile took those checks and stole the proceeds by depositing them into a bank account he controlled in the name Steve’s Classic Cars, a business he owned to buy and restore classic automobiles.
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