LAWFUEL – Former Transportation Manager of Network Appliance
Corporation Charged Over $ 90,000 in Personal Expenses to Corporation
SAN JOSE – United States Attorney Scott. N. Schools announced that Bernadette Escue, the former Global Transportation Manager of Network Appliance Corporation, (“Network”) was charged yesterday afternoon with wire fraud. According to the Information filed in San Jose federal district court, Ms. Escue, 41, used her position to embezzle over $90,000 by charging personal expenses to her company charge cards.
According to the Information, Ms. Escue was Network’s Global Transportation Manager and worked in Network’s Sunnyvale, California facility. The Information states that between February 2001 and October 2003, Ms. Escue fraudulently charged over $90,000 in personal expenses on Network corporate credit cards, including $12,900 for her son’s tuition at a private high school in San Francisco.
Ms. Escue is scheduled to make an initial appearance on October 11, 2007, before The Honorable Richard Seeborg, United States Magistrate Judge. The case is assigned to United States District Judge Jeremy Fogel (CR 07-00610 JF).
The maximum statutory penalty for wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, is twenty years in prison and a fine of $ 1,000,000, plus restitution. Any sentence following conviction would, however, be determined by the court after considering the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of factors, and would be imposed in the discretion of the Court. An Information contains only allegations against an individual and, as with all defendants, Ms. Escue must be presumed innocent unless and until convicted.
Joseph Fazioli is the Assistant United States Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Legal Assistant Susan Kreider. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
