Elk Grove accountant gets 9 years for $500,000 theft from Itasca firm

An Elk Grove Village man was sentenced Wednesday to nine years in prison for embezzling more than $500,000 from an Itasca firm where he worked as accounting manager.

Patrick Zyung, 33, of the 400 block of Franklin Lane, had faced up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in January to a felony theft charge.

Prosecutors said Zyung stole $531,686 from Itasca-based Suntrans International from January 2008 to February 2009. The scheme involved funneling vendor payments into personal accounts belonging to Zyung, who also wrote checks to himself and paid credit card bills with company money.

Zyung was charged after discrepancies in the company books turned up while he was absent from work, prosecutors said.

“For more than one year, Mr. Zyung used Suntrans International’s bank accounts as his own personal piggy bank,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in a news release. “He took what wasn’t his and, in doing so, caused a significant hardship for the company and his fellow employees.”

Suntrans International is a transportation firm that specializes in ocean- and airfreight, domestic shipping, and trucking, among other services, according to its website. A representative could not immediately be reached for comment.

By law, Zyung must serve at least 4½ years. He was sentenced by Judge Blanche Hill Fawell.