In March of last year, William Markham (R) was indicted on numerous counts of embezzlement, money laundering, financial transaction fraud and tax evasion charges.According to the criminal complaint filed in Federal Court, William “Bill” Markham was retained in 1993 to provide accounting and consulting services for the owners of Failure Free Reading, an organization that teaches reading skills to at-risk and special education students.
From 1999 to 2004, Markham embezzled over $3.2 million dollars from Failure Free Reading, Failure Free Properties and the owners of the two companies. The court documents state Markham illicitly ordered checks for the companies and owners’ bank accounts and wrote numerous unauthorized checks to himself and his accounting firm. The check amounts ranged from $1,000 to $90,000.
Markham used the stolen monies to live a lavish lifestyle. The Markham family lived in a beautiful $3.5 million dollar home (Left). He and his wife Brenda drove ‘his and hers’ BMW SUV’s, wore expensive clothing and spent $19,000 on an attack dog.The Markham family enjoyed extended vacations in Charleston, SC and Kiawah Island- racking up hotel bills in amounts over $700,000.
Three months after William Markham was indicted, he entered into a plea agreement with the US Attorney’s Office. Markham pled guilty to the tax fraud and money laundering charges and all other charges were dismissed.
On March 28, 2007, William Markham was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. He was ordered to pay $3,164,011 in restitution and after he is released from prison, he will be on supervised release for three years. The Judge ordered him to report to Edgefield Federal Prison in South Carolina by August 1st.
Markham's criminal record extends back to 1988, when he was charged with embezzlement from General Tire Co. in Mecklenburg County. The following year he was convicted of larceny and he was ordered to pay restitution and one year probation.Links: Business Today NC article, Federal Indictment, Plea Bargain, Sentencing Doc