Embezzlement, money laundering and tax evasion: Alaska man sentenced 2.5 years in prison

A Willow man was sentenced to 30 months in prison for embezzling money from the Alaska city of Houston and a Wasilla-based company, then dodging taxes on the money.

Jess Adams was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release, pay $1.5 million in restitution to the United States and pay additional restitution to Houston and the equipment company.

According to court documents, Adams embezzled money from the city government while he was its treasurer from 2015-2018 and was responsible for bookkeeping and had administrative access to accounting software and records. Records show he made direct electronic transfers between the city’s account and his personal account and disguised the payments with false entries that made them look like legitimate business expenses in the city’s accounting records. He was placed on administrative leave and resigned in late 2018.

But a year later, Adams used a similar method to embezzle while he was employed as a bookkeeper at an equipment company, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice. It said he used wire transfers to launder the money and that he did not claim any of the embezzled funds in his tax returns for 2016 through 2021.

Alaska State Troopers helped the IRS Criminal Investigations division with the case.

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