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A controller at C.R. England Trucking Co. was ordered held in jail Wednesday on charges he embezzled$1.3 million in cash paid by driving-school students.
U.S. Magistrate Paul Warner found Nathan Lee Kapp, of Syracuse, was a danger to the community and ordered him held pending a mental health evaluation.
Kapp was charged with five felony charges of mail fraud and money laundering for allegedly taking cash that students had paid for tuition at C.R. England truck-driving schools in Utah, California, Texas and Indiana.
In an affidavit filed with the charges, IRS Special Agent Gregory Stuart said Kapp was the controller in the recruiting, training and safe driving department at C.R. England's Salt Lake City headquarters. Part of his job was to reconcile the cash received from students with receipts, but instead, he started depositing it into a personal account beginning in early 2007, Stuart said.
"During my investigation I have learned that, since 2007, Kapp has made hundreds of cash deposits into his personal bank account at America First Credit Union," Stuart said.
When a credit union employee questioned him about the deposits, Kapp said the money came from selling beach towels and sunglasses, the agent said.
Kapp allegedly used the money to help purchase and make improvements to a home in Syracuse; and bought a 2010 Lexus ES 350 for $40,000, a 2006 Acura TSX for $32,164 and a 2008 Infiniti QX56 with a credit union loan and payments from his account there.
Kapp confessed to the embezzlement during an interview with the IRS agent Tuesday at the company's offices, according to court documents.
The government is seeking forfeiture of the Syracuse home, the cars and $40,000 in cash from the credit union account.
Kapp didn't report the embezzled money as income, the IRS agent said.