Last updatedWednesday, November 10, 2010 - 10:25pm

http://www.standard.net/topics/business/2010/11/10/syracuse-man-charged-mail-fraud-money-laundering

SALT LAKE CITY -- A 36-year-old Syracuse man is facing at least 20 years in a federal prison for embezzling $1.3 million from a trucking company, according to court documents.

Nathan Lee Kapp appeared before U.S. Magistrate Paul M. Warner on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City. He was arrested by federal marshals on Tuesday.

Warner ordered that Kapp be kept in custody because "the defendant is a danger to the community," according to the court's website. Warner also ordered that Kapp undergo a mental health evaluation.

Kapp is charged with one count of mail fraud and four counts of money laundering. If convicted of the mail fraud charge, Kapp could be sentenced to serve a maximum of 20 years in a federal prison. The four counts of money laundering charges each carry a potential of 10 years in a federal prison.

According to court documents, Kapp deposited $10,000 a week into his own personal bank account from cash received from students at C.R. England Trucking educational facilities. From January 2007 until recently, the cash deposits totaled about $1.3 million.

Students paid for their tuition in advance and many did so with cash, according to court documents. They received a handwritten receipt. A copy of that receipt and the cash were delivered in a locked box to Kapp, who was in charge of reconciling the receipts.

Kapp also was in charge of counting and reconciling cash received by the trucking company from its schools outside of Utah.

"Those campuses would send the cash they received, along with corresponding receipts, by a private commercial interstate carrier to the C.R. England offices in Salt Lake City," according to the court documents.

Kapp also took those packages with cash inside them and deposited them in his own accounts, according to the documents.

A statement released by C.R. England Trucking said, "Nate Kapp, the controller in one of our corporate divisions, was arrested (Tuesday) under suspicion of financial misconduct. The investigation by law enforcement is in its early stages and we are cooperating fully with authorities. Until the investigation by law enforcement is concluded and we have concluded our own internal review, we will not comment further on this case."

Kapp was a controller for the recruiting, training and safe-driving department of the trucking company in Salt Lake City, according to court documents.

Kapp's money laundering charges stem from using the funds he received to buy a Lexus, and make payments to Ivory Homes and to Concrete Elements.

According to court documents, the investigator talked to employees at America First Credit Union and learned that on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, Kapp "made multiple cash deposits" weekly. He used an ATM at a branch near his home.

"The total weekly cash deposits range from approximately $5,000 to $20,000," according to the documents.

Kapp told a credit union employee when asked about the cash deposits that he "owned a business selling beach towels and sunglasses and that the cash was from that business," according to the court documents.

But his income tax returns since 2007 show "no business or employment other than his wages from C.R. England and the wages his spouse earned," according the documents. Kapp did not report the cash he deposited on his income taxes.

Kapp admitted to the investigator that he used the funds to buy a 2010 Lexus, a 2006 Acura, a 2008 Infiniti, to make a down payment on his home in Syracuse, and to pay a contractor who specialized in high-end concrete work, including countertops.