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published: Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Sebring man charged with stealing more than $50K from brother's company

By TREY CHRISTY

trey.christy@newssun.com

SEBRING -- Years after a family reconciliation that resulted in him being hired at the family business, John Vickers has drawn the interest of the Highlands County Sheriff's Office.

Vickers, 49, of Sebring, who was forced out as co-owner of the Vickers Sales Corporation in 1995, has been arrested for stealing more than $50,000 from the company in which his brother is now the sole owner.

He was arrested for fraud and theft, both first degree felonies, and impersonating the business without consent.

In records obtained through the investigation by the HCSO, it was revealed that Vickers was bought out in 1995 "due to in fighting."

"He was taken back as a sales associate for the Northern Florida sales district sometime during the year 2000 after the family reconciled," HCSO Det. Roger St. Laurent wrote in the arrest report.

Then in mid-2008, Vickers was asked to bid on a job with the University of Illinois, which was in need of heating and cooling components and meters for an experiment.

Part of the deal was that Vickers would get 50 percent of the profit from the job, the report said.

Vickers handled all paperwork to put a bid on the university job, including signing contracts and giving financial information to the university for payment.

The report states he told his brother that the company had lost the bid.

While seeing the sale through, Vickers allegedly gave the correct company name and federal employer identification number, but for the business address and payment information he provided his home address and personal bank account.

"Records obtained confirm that the suspect did receive payments in the amount of $170,635.20, in the form of two checks from the university," St. Laurent wrote.

The parts required to complete the job cost just under $60,000, leaving Vickers with $110,000 profit.

"Of that amount the victim was to receive 50 percent for a total theft and scheme to defraud amount of $55,319.99," St. Laurent wrote.

During the sale Vickers filed with the state of Florida for a corporation in the name of Vickers Sales Co., but no FEI number was assigned to what the report called a "fictitious company."

It is also noted in the report that Vickers filed for the corporation on the same day the university issued the first check, valued at just more than $85,000.

The university is a secondary victim, the report states, because "if any incidence's would have occurred requiring liability insurance the damages would not have been covered."

Vickers was booked into the Highlands County Jail Sunday morning.

He posted $31,000 bond within two hours.