A 51-year-old Fairfield man pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to embezzling more than $1.6 million while working as the chief financial officer of a firm that managed several Fairfield auto dealerships.
Christopher Firle pleaded to one count of wire fraud, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert, who leads the Department of Justice’s Eastern District of California, said in a press release.
According to court documents, Firle was the CFO of a company, Price Simms Holdings, which managed the dealerships, including Mercedes Benz of Fairfield and Ford Lincoln Fairfield.
From January 2016 through September 2019, Firle misappropriated more than $1.6 million from the company, led by Adam Simms and Tom Price, whose main offices are in Larkspur and have dealerships in Sunnyvale, Palo Alto and Marin County, among other locations.
In the prepared statement, Talbert said Firle carried out his embezzlement scheme “in multiple ways,” including by using company credit cards to pay for more than $750,000 in personal expenses. The unauthorized charges included tickets to sporting events and purchases at several retail stores, including Bergdorf Goodman, Chanel, Hermès, Nordstrom, and Tiffany & Co., all high-end merchants.
Firle, added Talbert, initiated over 30 unauthorized wire transfers from the company to a family member. Those transfers totaled more than $500,000. He also issued more than 30 unauthorized company checks to himself that totaled more than $165,000, and he withdrew more than $50,000 from a company account without authorization. Finally, Talbert noted Firle issued himself excess bonus payments totaling almost $160,000.
As part of his guilty plea, Firle, whose Linkedin profile shows that he heads C12 Consulting and earned an MBA from Mississippi State University, agreed to pay restitution of nearly $2 million to his former employer. He also agreed to forfeit nearly $1.7 million to the United States.
The case stems from an investigation by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Thuesen prosecuted the case.
U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez is scheduled to sentence Firle on Oct. 19, when he faces a maximum prison term of 20 years and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the court’s discretion and federal sentencing guidelines. which take into account a number of variables.
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