Lake Zurich embezzler gets prison time

A Lake Zurich man is headed to prison for 30 months after admitting to filing a false federal tax return by not reporting nearly $174,000 of income embezzled from a freight-forwarding company.

Jeffrey Meyer, 52, received the prison sentence in a hearing Thursday before U.S. District Judge John Darrah. Meyer entered a plea deal in February on the false income-tax return charge.

Meyer was charged with filing a false tax return in April 2001 by not reporting the $173,902 he embezzled while chief financial officer at Cargo Inc. in Bensenville, authorities said. The freight-forwarding firm suddenly closed in May 2002.

Federal officials said Meyer stole from Cargo in 2000 and 2001. One way he did it was by issuing unauthorized payroll checks to himself and concealing the income by creating false W-2 forms at year's end, according to court filings.

Meyer, a certified public accountant who worked nearly 15 years for Cargo, also was accused of using a company credit card for unauthorized personal expenses, with billing statements sent to his home.

Along with the 30 months behind bars, Darrah sentenced Meyer to one year of supervised release when his term ends, according to Internal Revenue Service spokeswoman Carrie Hannigan. Meyer is to report for prison July 27.

Richard T. White founded Cargo in 1977 and was the company's president when it folded. He has said he never knew Cargo's financial records under Meyer's control were wildly inaccurate until it was forced to close.

At least 100 employees weren't paid for their final two weeks of work when Cargo failed in 2002. During its pinnacle in 1999 and 2000, Cargo did an estimated $60 million in annual sales.