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Maria GarciaPerson
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Sep 29, 2006 Updated Sep 29, 2006, 5:45pm EDT
Scott Deloach, former chief financial officer of PBSJ Corp., and two other former workers pleaded guilty to charges they engaged in a long-term scheme to embezzle more than $35 million from PBSJ.
Deloach pleaded guilty to a separate count to charges of unlawfully reimbursing $11,000 in federal campaign contributions to the Mel Martinez Senate campaign.
Deloach; Maria Garcia, who held various positions in the company's finance department; and Rosario Licata, a supervisor and manager in the accounts payable department, were accused of embezzling money from 1992 to March 2005, when PBSJ was headquartered in Miami, according to a release from U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida.
The company, an employee-owned national engineering and construction firm, recently relocated its headquarters to Tampa. It has said it is in the process of restating financial results for 2002, 2003 and 2004, as the result of accounting irregularities.
According to the release, Licata issued millions of dollars in unauthorized checks from the PBSJ master cash disbursement to Deloach, who deposited the checks in personal bank accounts at different area banks. Deloach split a portion of the proceeds with Garcia, the release said.
Federal authorities said the three funded lavish lifestyles through the fraud. Deloach owned several valuable properties, including a multi-million dollar home in Aventura, real estate in the Florida Keys, luxury sports automobiles and a yacht.
Garcia used the stolen money to buy several luxury sports cars, expensive jewelry and Rolex watches, and an ownership interest in a local restaurant, the release said. Licata used her share of the stolen funds to purchase real estate in Florida and Nicaragua, so as to engage in high-dollar gambling activities, according to the release.
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Regarding the campaign finance charge, the release said Deloach learned that PBSJ supported the U.S. Senate campaign of Martinez and he wrote a personal contribution check to the Martinez campaign and asked four PBSJ employees to do the same. The four employees, and two of their spouses, made contributions totaling $11,000, for which each was unlawfully reimbursed, the release said.
Sentencing is set for Dec. 14. Each faces up to 20 years in prison, a fine and mandatory restitution. The defendants have returned $15 million to PBSJ to date, according to the release. Deloach faces an additional two years in prison on the campaign contribution count and a possible fine.
