Trucking Company Employee Accused Of Stealing Almost $400,000

Crafton, Pennsylvania – According to a criminal complaint, 29-year-old James R. Perry Jr., allegedly stole almost $400,000 from a trucking company. Officials from R&R Express say Perry was employed as the director of credit and collections billing and settlement at the company. According to company records, Perry began redirecting customer credit card payments into his personal account in April 2015 and continued doing so until it was discovered in July of this year.

The complaint said Perry used a computer program to process 78 payments and redirected them into his personal checking account. The records showed about $373,927.80 in customer payments had been deposited into Perry’s personal account over the years.

According to the company, customers were unaware their payments were being diverted into Perry’s personal account because their bank accounts would reflect that R&R Express processed the payments and the services rendered. Perry would then write off the customers’ accounts as “bad debt,” and R&R Express would often simply take the loss.

Officials say the discovery was made by an R&R Express employee who logged onto to Perry’s computer to process customer payments while Perry was out of the office due to an arrest for violating the terms of his probation concerning another matter. The company notified authorities and officers obtained a search warrant to seize Perry’s financial records. According to the complaint, Perry used the stolen money to pay for adult entertainment, Tinder, casino visits, sports tickets, jewelry, court-related fines, fees and restitution, clothes and other day-to-day expenses.

Perry is now facing theft and other charges. He was taken into custody Monday morning and arraigned with bail set at $10,000 straight bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 18. We will continue to follow this story.

Video shared courtesy of CBS Pittsburgh.