{"id":61469,"date":"2026-08-18T13:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T20:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=61469"},"modified":"2026-08-18T13:13:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T20:13:49","slug":"former-finance-director-gets-prison-for-10-7m-embezzlement-lavish-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=61469","title":{"rendered":"Former Finance Director Gets Prison for $10.7M Embezzlement, Lavish Spending"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

\"goldPHOENIX<\/strong> \u2014 A former finance director who embezzled more than $10.7 million from his employer and spent the money on Super Bowl tickets, luxury hotels and other personal expenses, officials stated last week.<\/span><\/p>\n

He was sentenced\u00a0 to six years and six months in federal prison.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark Latham, 61, of Scottsdale, was also ordered to pay $10,752,535 in restitution to his former employer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Federal prosecutors said Latham worked as the finance director for Performance Software Corporation.\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

From March 2009 to about January 2025, he used the company\u2019s bank account to pay for his personal credit card charges.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Dominic W. Lanza imposed the sentence. Latham previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud.<\/span><\/p>\n

Latham became the finance director of a local company in 2009 and began using company funds to pay his personal credit card bills, award himself unauthorized bonuses and cover the cost of a relative\u2019s apartment, according to court records. He also transferred company money into his personal bank account.<\/span><\/p>\n

The scheme continued until Latham was caught in 2025. He concealed the theft by altering company bank statements to remove records of payments made to himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prosecutors said Latham used the stolen money to finance a lavish lifestyle. His spending included $39,000 for Super Bowl tickets in 2023 and $29,731 for Taylor Swift concert tickets in 2023 and 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n

Latham also spent $46,248 on a room at the Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica in 2018, $38,827 on NFL season tickets from 2022 through 2024 and $28,098 on a golf simulator in 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over 17 calendar years, Latham embezzled $10,752,535 from his employer, according to federal prosecutors.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Quick Facts<\/span><\/h3>\n
    \n
  • Defendant:<\/strong> Mark Latham, 61, of Scottsdale<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Charge:<\/strong> Wire fraud<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Sentence:<\/strong> 78 months in federal prison<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Restitution:<\/strong> $10,752,535<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Judge:<\/strong> U.S. District Judge Dominic W. Lanza<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Scheme:<\/strong> 2009 to 2025<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Method:<\/strong> Unauthorized payments, bonuses and bank transfers<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Concealment:<\/strong> Altered company bank statements<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Notable purchases:<\/strong> Super Bowl and Taylor Swift tickets, luxury lodging, NFL season tickets and a golf simulator<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A former Scottsdale finance director was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for embezzling $10.7 million to finance a lavish lifestyle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFormer Finance Director Gets Prison for $10.7M Embezzlement, Lavish Spending<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A former Scottsdale finance director was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for embezzling $10.7 million to finance a lavish lifestyle.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=61469\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Finance Director Gets Prison for $10.7M Embezzlement, Lavish Spending\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A former Scottsdale finance director was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for embezzling $10.7 million to finance a lavish lifestyle.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=61469\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Justice Notebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-18T20:06:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-18T20:13:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/FBI-Insider-Trading.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"381\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=61469#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=61469\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Raul\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\"},\"headline\":\"Former Finance Director Gets Prison for $10.7M Embezzlement, Lavish Spending\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-18T20:06:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-18T20:13:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=61469\"},\"wordCount\":313,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=61469#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/FBI-Insider-Trading.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"American Justice\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=61469#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=61469\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=61469\",\"name\":\"Former Finance Director Gets Prison for $10.7M Embezzlement, Lavish Spending\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=61469#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=61469#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/FBI-Insider-Trading.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-18T20:06:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-18T20:13:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"A former Scottsdale finance director was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for embezzling $10.7 million to finance a lavish lifestyle.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=61469\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=61469#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/FBI-Insider-Trading.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/FBI-Insider-Trading.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":381},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Justice Notebook\",\"description\":\""Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." \u2014 Thomas Jefferson\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"American Justice Notebook\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Justice-Scales.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Justice-Scales.jpg\",\"width\":675,\"height\":231,\"caption\":\"American Justice Notebook\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\",\"name\":\"Raul\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Raul\"},\"description\":\"Raul Hernandez is a former journalist. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 30 years at the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso Times, Press Enterprise in Riverside, California and the Ventura County Star in California. He was a court reporter for more than 20 years.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Former Finance Director Gets Prison for $10.7M Embezzlement, Lavish Spending","description":"A former Scottsdale finance director was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for embezzling $10.7 million to finance a lavish lifestyle.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=61469","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Former Finance Director Gets Prison for $10.7M Embezzlement, Lavish Spending","og_description":"A former Scottsdale finance director was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for embezzling $10.7 million to finance a lavish lifestyle.","og_url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=61469","og_site_name":"American Justice Notebook","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook","article_published_time":"2026-08-18T20:06:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-18T20:13:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":381,"url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/FBI-Insider-Trading.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Raul","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Raul","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=61469#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=61469"},"author":{"name":"Raul","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0"},"headline":"Former Finance Director Gets Prison for $10.7M Embezzlement, Lavish Spending","datePublished":"2026-08-18T20:06:08+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-18T20:13:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=61469"},"wordCount":313,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=61469#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/FBI-Insider-Trading.jpg","articleSection":["American Justice"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=61469#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=61469","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=61469","name":"Former Finance Director Gets Prison for $10.7M Embezzlement, Lavish Spending","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=61469#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=61469#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/FBI-Insider-Trading.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-18T20:06:08+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-18T20:13:49+00:00","description":"A former Scottsdale finance director was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for embezzling $10.7 million to finance a lavish lifestyle.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=61469"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=61469#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/FBI-Insider-Trading.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/FBI-Insider-Trading.jpg","width":500,"height":381},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/","name":"American Justice Notebook","description":""Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." \u2014 Thomas Jefferson","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization","name":"American Justice Notebook","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Justice-Scales.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Justice-Scales.jpg","width":675,"height":231,"caption":"American Justice Notebook"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0","name":"Raul","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","caption":"Raul"},"description":"Raul Hernandez is a former journalist. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 30 years at the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso Times, Press Enterprise in Riverside, California and the Ventura County Star in California. He was a court reporter for more than 20 years.","sameAs":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61469"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61474,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61469\/revisions\/61474"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}