This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Layton man who used his employer's money to trade stocks has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart also ordered Paul R. Beckwith, 39, to pay $178,880 in restitution.
As part of a plea agreement, Beckwith admitted that from about August 2009 to September 2010 he moved hundreds of thousands of dollars out of an operating account he managed as an assistant controller for TheraDoc Inc., a hospital software company. The money was transferred to accounts at TD Ameritrade that Beckwith used to trade stocks on margin.
For much of the fraud period, he transferred money out of the operating account at the beginning of the month and usually replaced the funds at the month's end, skimming off any earnings.
To cover his tracks, Beckwith omitted the transfers of funds in monthly financial reports and altered bank records.
Beckwith made money for much of the time, but when he started to suffer losses he began to transfer more money into trades to try to recover his losses.
He was confronted by FBI agents in September 2010 and arrested. The Securities and Exchange Commission also helped investigate the case.
Of the $1.3 million Beckwith removed, he assisted law enforcement in recovering $1.12 million, according to federal prosecutors.