SAN FRANCISCO, CA (MPG) - A federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Ben Thomas III today with eight counts of wire fraud and four counts of money laundering for defrauding his former employer, San Francisco-based Williams Sonoma, Inc. (WSI), announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Mosley.

According to the indictment, Thomas, 48, of Georgia, is alleged to have registered a fictitious temporary staffing company, Empire Logistics Services (Empire), that billed WSI more than $10 million for work that Empire never performed.  Further, Thomas hid from WSI the fact that he founded and controlled Empire and billed WSI for Empire’s purported – but never in fact performed – services.  According to the indictment, Thomas spent the proceeds of the scheme on, among other personal items, a yacht, automobiles, tickets to professional sporting events, pet cloning, a 12,000-square-foot home, and professional landscaping services for the home.

“The defendant is charged with enriching himself by cheating his employer, a publicly traded company.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to rooting out fraud in this District and to ensuring that those who abuse positions of trust and authority are held accountable for their actions,” said U.S. Attorney Ramsey.

According to the indictment, from 2016 to 2023, Thomas worked as the general manager of the WSI hub and distribution facility in Braselton, Georgia.  In that role, Thomas had the authority to hire temporary staffing vendors and approve payments up to $50,000 to vendors.  As a WSI general manager, Thomas was prohibited from self-dealing and from billing WSI for work from a company affiliated with him.  The indictment alleges that Thomas concealed from WSI the fact that he owned and controlled Empire, and that he was billing WSI via Empire for work never performed.  Between 2017 and 2023, Thomas fraudulently submitted hundreds of Empire invoices to WSI, each for less than Thomas’s $50,000 approval limit.  Thomas then approved WSI payment on the invoices, and Thomas caused WSI to make approximately 335 payments over six years totaling more than $10 million in a bank account Thomas controlled.  

Thomas is scheduled to make his initial appearance in federal court in San Francisco on Oct. 1, 2024, before the Honorable Peter H. Kang, U.S. Magistrate Judge.          

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, and a fine of $250,000, plus restitution, for each violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343 (wire fraud) and 10 years imprisonment, and a fine of $250,000, plus restitution, for each violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957 (money laundering).  However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christiaan Highsmith is prosecuting the case.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by IRS-CI.