SAN DIEGO (CNS) - The founder and former CEO of a San Diego startup pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal wire fraud charge for stealing more than $1.5 million from his own company.
Jeffrey Fildey, 56, of Las Vegas, created GoFormz Inc. -- which provides online mobile forms and reporting products -- and began illegally taking money from the company sometime around late 2015 and continued to do so through August 2017, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
U.S. Attorney Robert S. Brewer said, Fildey "abused a position of trust to brazenly steal company assets, treating GoFormz Inc. as his own private slush fund."
Prosecutors say Fildey obtained loans -- supposedly for the company -- then kept the funds for himself, paid for personal expenditures on company credit cards, received cash advances for himself on company credit cards and took money directly from the company's bank account.
A U.S. Attorney's Office statement announcing the plea cited examples that included a $146,250 loan he obtained for the company, which he immediately wired from the firm's bank account to his personal bank account. The U.S. Attorney's Office said GoFormz made payments on the loan while he spent the money on personal expenses.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Fildey took three unauthorized loans on behalf of the company and transferred the funds to his bank account each time, withdrew more than $700,000 in cash from the company's bank account for his personal use and made more than $2,600 in unauthorized purchases on the corporate credit card.
The company lost $1,544,147 as a result, according to the plea agreement.
Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 9.
