Man gets prison time for embezzling more than $5M

FAYETTEVILLE — An accountant who stole more than $5 million from three jointly owned Fayetteville businesses was sentenced to federal prison and ordered to pay back the ill-gotten gains Monday.

Jimmy Fant Jr. waived indictment and entered into a plea deal with prosecutors on Sept. 29, pleading guilty to wire fraud and money laundering.

Fant was sentenced Monday to nine years in federal prison and ordered by U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks to pay more than $5.2 million in victim restitution. No fine was imposed.

Fant was allowed to remain free on bond and self-report to prison June 19.

According to court documents, Fant previously agreed to forfeit almost $100,000, including almost $94,000 in cash, along with jewelry, a tractor and a car.

The FBI and IRS began investigating Fant in February 2023 based on a complaint that Fant had embezzled more than $5 million from three jointly owned companies — White River Hardwood and Woodworking, Matrix Investments and Castle Dromborg — according to the plea agreement.

Fant worked as an accountant for White River beginning in 1999 and was promoted to chief financial officer in 2015. He left the company in 2023, according to the plea agreement. Fant managed the finances of the three companies and was an authorized person on their bank accounts.

Fant was a salaried employee who was not authorized to receive commission payments over and above his salary, according to the plea agreement.

The companies used an outside firm to handle timekeeping and payroll services, which were done electronically based on information provided by Fant, according to the plea agreement.

After Fant left the company in January 2023, White River’s new accountant discovered that beginning in August 2014 and continuing through 2022, Fant used the internet payroll portal to fraudulently add unauthorized commission payments totaling more than $3.9 million to his salary amount. In 2022, the amount escalated to

more than $957,000.

In December 2022, Fant falsely and fraudulently represented to the payroll company that he was to receive a commission payment of more than $44,659, according to the plea agreement. In late December 2022, Fant used money derived from the fraudulent commission payments to obtain a $25,000 cashier’s check.

The investigation also revealed Fant made unauthorized and fraudulent transfers from the White River bank account to his 401(k) totaling more than $69,000 and another $813,742 from a Matrix account to repay loans made to Fant from his 401(k) account, according to the plea agreement. Fant also transferred more than $317,000 from Castle Dromborg to his back account and overpaid his own salary by $60,396, which caused White River to overpay Medicare by more than $55,700 and Social Security by more than $32,400, according to the plea agreement.