Former VP of Manassas Company Gets 33 Months for Fraud

A federal judge sentenced a Gainesville man to two years and nine months in prison on Friday for embezzling nearly $1 million from his former employer. 

Tony Patton, 43, of Gainesville, Va. was the vice president of Soudal Inc.—a Belgium-based company headquartered in Manassas—and managed the company's U.S. operations. He pleaded guilty in March to the charges.   

According to court documents, Patton embezzled more than $1 million from the company from September 2008 through August 2011. 

According to a press release from the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, Patton transferred funds from corporate accounts to his own personal bank account, obtained reimbursement for personal expenditures that he falsely represented were corporate expenses, used company debit cards and checks to pay for personal expenses, paid himself a monthly commission without the company’s knowledge or consent, and diverted refunds payable to the company to himself.           

Patton concealed his fraud by creating fake invoices for the down payment on a Cadillac Escalade and 2007 BMW, and altered company accounting records in order to cover up his fraud, the release said. 

Patton also used the money he stole from the company to pay for numerous family vacations and personal trips. He also used the funds to pay for home re-modeling and repair work, theater tickets, property taxes, boat storage and maintenance, golf and hockey equipment, XM satellite radio, and other personal expenditures.       

Patton's prison sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release, according to authorities.