People v. Williams

While defendant Charles Patrick Williams was the general manager of Valley of Enchantment Mutual Water Company (VOE), he embezzled more than $50,000 from his employer and did not pay the company’s payroll taxes between 1999 and 2006. As a consequence, VOE incurred attorney fees, fees for the internal audit by a certified public accounting (CPA) firm, as well as penalties and interest assessed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for unpaid payroll taxes. At a contested hearing, the People sought a restitution order in the amount of $212,975.61, for all losses, less any amounts previously paid by defendant. The trial court denied restitution for the IRS penalties assessed against VOE and the People appealed. We reverse.

BACKGROUND

Defendant was employed as the general manager of VOE from December 1999 through December 2006. In the fall of 2005, the office manager, Rose A., noticed problems with the books after defendant started delegating billing responsibility to her. She consulted the company’s QuickBooks records and noticed discrepancies; she also noticed cash losses from the cash register. She learned that when defendant received a payment from a customer, he would…