DENVER | An Aurora man was sentenced this week to 22 months in prison for a host of schemes allowing him to steal $830,000 over 16 months from a local Walmart, where he worked as an assistant manager, according to federal investigators.
Justin Manning, 40, of Aurora, was convicted by a grand jury last September for a wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion scheme that lasted a year and a half.
Besides jail time, Manning was ordered to three years of probation and must pay $830,000 restitution, the amount he stole, according to Jeffrey Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S Attorney’s Office in Denver.
Between 2012-2015, Manning worked as an asset protection manager and assistant store manager at an Aurora Walmart, according to the indictment. As part of his job, Manning was granted access to blank Money Network checks used in Walmart’s Money Network System.
From October 2013 through January 2015, Manning fraudulently filled out the money orders, and had others do the same, in order to trick other Walmart cashiers and managers into believing they were legitimate checks, according to the indictment.
Investigators said Manning used his management positions to gain access to the store safe and stealing cash, then replacing it with the fraudulent checks.
As a manager, Manning also took cash from registers and replaced it with other stolen checks to conceal his scam, according to investigators.
Prosecutors said Manning laundered the cash he collected by transferring funds between accounts at undisclosed banks.
Investigators said Manning used some of the money to buy a diamond wedding ring set and a Toyota 4Runner.
Investigators said cracking the complex case depended on cooperation of federal prosecutors and IRS investigators.
“The role of IRS Criminal Investigation becomes even more important in embezzlement and fraud cases due to the complex financial transactions that can take time to unravel,” said Steven Osborne, IRS Special Agent in Charge, Denver Field Office.