Lavish life lands former fire official in slammer
SEATTLE -- A former assistant chief for South King Fire and Rescue who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the department was sentenced Friday to three years in prison.
Grant G. Gaspard, 51, who pleaded guilty last fall to mail fraud, was also ordered to pay $959,200 in restitution.
In court documents, Assistant United States Attorney Mark Parrent wrote that Gaspard "knew that the money he was stealing could have been put to important uses... Instead, the defendant spent the money on his extravagant hobbies."
Those hobbies included restoring Mini Cooper cars and spending tens of thousands of dollars on electronics, officials said.
It was just expensive phone calls and a mystery high-definition television that raised the initial suspicions last year, but federal agents said their investigation found that Gaspard bilked his department out of huge amounts of money.
Gaspard was so efficient with the fraud, investigators said, that even state auditors missed the thefts in the their regular inspections and, as recently as July 9, 2008, noted that the fire district's "internal controls were adequate to safeguard public assets."
When confronted in July by the department chief about the questionable phone bills and TV purchase, Gaspard was placed on paid leave and a private law firm was hired to check the stations finances.
The law firm brought in the FBI, whose agents believe Gaspard used phony invoices, fake work orders, and improper department credit card purchases to obtain cash and personal items.
How he did it
Gaspard was the department's chief financial officer, and oversaw business operations and the department computer system.
Writing in the federal complaint, FBI Special Agent Glenn Conca said Gaspard obtained about $330,000 from the department by approving purchase orders for nonexistent communications equipment from a company called Atwrx.
The payments were mailed to a private mailbox rented by Gaspard at a UPS store in Tumwater, and most of the checks were deposited into a bank account controlled by Gaspard.
In addition to the fake orders, investigators say Gaspard purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of personal property with his department credit card and submitted falsified expense reports.
When he was confronted by the chief in mid-July, Gaspard allegedly destroyed large volumes of e-mail that contained documentation he submitted to justify the fraudulent purchases. He resigned from the department July 31.
What he got
Among the items Gaspard allegedly purchased with district funds:
- Sony Blu-Ray player
- 60-inch Sony high-definition television
- Rifle scope
- Nikon D2X digital camera
- Nikon D3 digital camera
- Nikon D300 digital camera
- Thousands of dollars worth of camera lenses, memory cards and accessories
- High-end Apple desktop computer
- Two Apple MacBook laptop computers
- Apple MacMini computer
- Computer scanner
- Diesel generator
- Gun safe
- Sony HD camcorder
- Mackie speakers
- Computer hard drives
- Computer software
- Towing equipment and other truck parts
- Two TiVo video recorders
The Justice Department said some of the equipment purchased with the stolen money will be auctioned off to help pay Gaspard's restitution.
Gaspard is currently free and was ordered to report to prison within the next four to six weeks, officials said.
Grant G. Gaspard, 51, who pleaded guilty last fall to mail fraud, was also ordered to pay $959,200 in restitution.
In court documents, Assistant United States Attorney Mark Parrent wrote that Gaspard "knew that the money he was stealing could have been put to important uses... Instead, the defendant spent the money on his extravagant hobbies."
Those hobbies included restoring Mini Cooper cars and spending tens of thousands of dollars on electronics, officials said.
It was just expensive phone calls and a mystery high-definition television that raised the initial suspicions last year, but federal agents said their investigation found that Gaspard bilked his department out of huge amounts of money.
Gaspard was so efficient with the fraud, investigators said, that even state auditors missed the thefts in the their regular inspections and, as recently as July 9, 2008, noted that the fire district's "internal controls were adequate to safeguard public assets."
When confronted in July by the department chief about the questionable phone bills and TV purchase, Gaspard was placed on paid leave and a private law firm was hired to check the stations finances.
The law firm brought in the FBI, whose agents believe Gaspard used phony invoices, fake work orders, and improper department credit card purchases to obtain cash and personal items.
How he did it
Gaspard was the department's chief financial officer, and oversaw business operations and the department computer system.
Writing in the federal complaint, FBI Special Agent Glenn Conca said Gaspard obtained about $330,000 from the department by approving purchase orders for nonexistent communications equipment from a company called Atwrx.
The payments were mailed to a private mailbox rented by Gaspard at a UPS store in Tumwater, and most of the checks were deposited into a bank account controlled by Gaspard.
In addition to the fake orders, investigators say Gaspard purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of personal property with his department credit card and submitted falsified expense reports.
When he was confronted by the chief in mid-July, Gaspard allegedly destroyed large volumes of e-mail that contained documentation he submitted to justify the fraudulent purchases. He resigned from the department July 31.
What he got
Among the items Gaspard allegedly purchased with district funds:
- Sony Blu-Ray player
- 60-inch Sony high-definition television
- Rifle scope
- Nikon D2X digital camera
- Nikon D3 digital camera
- Nikon D300 digital camera
- Thousands of dollars worth of camera lenses, memory cards and accessories
- High-end Apple desktop computer
- Two Apple MacBook laptop computers
- Apple MacMini computer
- Computer scanner
- Diesel generator
- Gun safe
- Sony HD camcorder
- Mackie speakers
- Computer hard drives
- Computer software
- Towing equipment and other truck parts
- Two TiVo video recorders
The Justice Department said some of the equipment purchased with the stolen money will be auctioned off to help pay Gaspard's restitution.
Gaspard is currently free and was ordered to report to prison within the next four to six weeks, officials said.
Learn about changes coming to commenting