5:34 PM, Nov. 18, 2011 

http://www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20111118/NEWS01/111118009/Newark-man-admits-embezzling-2-3-million?odyssey=nav|head

COLUMBUS — A Newark man admitted to lying on tax forms and laundering money as part of $2.3 million embezzled from US Bridge.

Shaun A. Clark, 33, last known address 279 Auburn Drive, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of willfully filing a fraudulent federal income tax return with the Internal Revenue Service and two counts of money laundering.

Clark faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

In early 2008, Clark embezzled two checks totaling $24,450 from his employer, The Scotts Co. in Marysville, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office news release.

Between April 2008 and September 2009, Clark embezzled about $2.31 million from the Ohio Bridge Corp., also known as US Bridge, where he worked as a controller, according to the news release.

As a controller, Clark transferred funds to a payroll company and suppliers. He illegally transferred funds into his bank accounts, according to the news release.

He also falsified ledgers, financial statements and his income tax filing to conceal the illegal activity, according to the news release.

On March 16, 2009, Clark listed his annual income at $255,831 — nearly $1 million short of his actual income of $1.25 million, according to court records. This shorted the IRS $336,028, according to the news release.

He also wrote two checks with stolen money: one to Ohio State University for $100,000 for Buckeye Club season tickets to football games on Dec. 23, 2008; and another for more than $89,000 to Germain Lexus on March 18, 2009, according to court records.

Ohio State paid back the $100,000 in donations. Marshall University and the Big Green Foundation, which received $72,500 for an endowment, scholarships and use of a luxury box, declined to return the money, according to documents reviewed by the Herald-Dispatch in Huntington W.Va.

During the investigation, the IRS seized about $101,000 from Clark’s account, a Chevy Tahoe and a boat purchased with embezzled funds. The proceeds from the items were returned to US Bridge, according to the news release.

Ohio Bridge Corp. recently settled a civil lawsuit against Clark in Guernsey County. Clark was ordered to pay $830,400 to the company, according to court records.

This wasn’t Clark’s first run-in with the federal investigators.

Clark, formerly of West Virginia, embezzled from his former employer, Huntington National Bank, from March 1998 to October 1998, according to court records. He was sentenced to three days of community confinement and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and $32,600 restitution, according to court records.

Clark was released on bond Friday. A sentencing date not been set.