A former IT manager has been sentenced for stealing nearly $1 million from a Kent company

This story was originally posted on MyNorthwest.com

A former IT manager has been sentenced to prison for stealing nearly $1 million from a Kent company.

Paul Welch, 44, will spend 18 months in prison on wire fraud charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington announced Thursday.

Welch, formerly of Laguna Niguel, California, was an IT manager at a Kent manufacturing company and stole more than $950,000 using various schemes.

“This was not a crime of desperation. You used the money to support a lifestyle you could not afford,” U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead said at the sentencing hearing, according to the attorney’s office.

Welch used the money to pay for expensive hotels, first-class airline tickets, and luxuries such as a Porsche for his wife as a Mother’s Day gift, according to First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd.

“His theft caused the company to cut staff, reduce or cancel bonuses, and delay projects. These effects justify this prison sentence,” Floyd said.

Welch worked for the company from 2011 to 2024 and was promoted to information technology manager in 2018, according to case records.

Welch’s plan begins with an unauthorized Amazon purchase

Between 2017 and 2023, Welch used the company’s Amazon business account to make unauthorized purchases on Amazon, totaling $43,000. He mainly bought electronics like TVs and laptops for personal use.

In 2019, Welch began using his company’s credit card for personal purchases at Apple, Alaska Airlines, Instacart and Best Buy. Those purchases totaled at least $60,000.

Then, in January 2021, Welch began making payments to himself disguised as payments to a computer services company.

“Welch created a series of email addresses and payment processor accounts using business names that corresponded to a legitimate computer services company located in Washington,” the attorney’s office said. “Welch then used the company’s credit cards to pay a computer services company that it claimed was providing IT equipment and services to the victim company. However, the legitimate computer services company had no relationship with Welch and did not provide any services or equipment to the victim company.”

The payments went directly to accounts controlled by Welch, and between 2021 and 2024, Welch transferred approximately $879,175 from company accounts to his own accounts.

The company tried to verify Welch several times, but each time Welch provided false or misleading information.

“When Welch was asked to submit invoices to substantiate his charges, he emailed bogus documents designed to look like invoices from a legitimate computer services company,” the attorney’s office said. “At one point in 2023, an accounting employee at the victim company identified personal purchases on Welch’s company credit card. Welch claimed the charges were unintentional and said he would refund the company. Welch never refunded the charges and continued to defraud the company through unauthorized personal purchases and additional fraudulent vendor charges.”

In 2024, employees confront Welch, and the company fires him

In January 2024, company employees confronted Welch about the charges. Welch claimed that the salesperson was a genuine salesperson for the company, and was later fired.

Between 2017 and 2024, Welch secretly made at least 250 fraudulent charges and at least 140 unauthorized purchases.

The attorney’s office noted that while Welch earned about $950,000, the company lost about $982,520 in transaction fees.

“As an information technology manager, Mr. Welch held a position of trust with his employer, which allowed him access to business accounts and company credit cards,” said W. Mike Herrington, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office. “Welch betrayed that trust by stealing nearly $1 million from the company through years of fraudulent transactions for his personal gain.”

“Despite being confronted several times about his illegal spending, Welch hid his schemes by falsifying documents or saying he had no intention of being charged. When such thefts occur, the FBI diligently pursues the money to ensure fraudsters are held accountable for their crimes,” he continued.

Welch has agreed to pay the company.

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