IN-N-OUT EMPLOYEE AND OWNER OF INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS COMPANY CONVICTED OF DEFRAUDING IN-N-OUT OVER $150,000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Case # 17HF1027

Date: October 5, 2018

IN-N-OUT EMPLOYEE AND OWNER OF INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS COMPANY CONVICTED OF DEFRAUDING IN-N-OUT OVER $150,000 THROUGH SUBMITTING MISCELLANEOUS INVOICES FOR PERSONAL ITEMS

SANTA ANA, Calif. – An In-N-Out Burger (INOB) employee and the owner of Industrial Material Handling Express (IMHE) were convicted yesterday of forgery and grand theft for ordering merchandise from IMHE for personal use and submitting over $150,000 in fraudulent invoices to INOB.

Defendant	Charges	Sentence
Kevin Anthony Koerner, 45, Lakewood   Louie Garcia, 48, Downey	Pleaded guilty on Oct. 4, 2018, to the following felony counts: (1) Grand Theft (34) Forgery Sentencing Enhancements Loss over $65,000 Aggravated White Collar Crime over $100,000	Koerner: 365 days in county jail Garcia: 270 days in county jail Defendants paid $340,000 restitution in full

Circumstances of the Case

• At the time of the crime, Koerner was employed by INOB as a forklift mechanic and entrusted with ordering forklift parts on behalf of INOB and Garcia was the owner Industrial Material Handling Express (IMHE), a third party vendor which provided forklift parts to INOB.
• Between Feb. 16, 2005, and July 6, 2014, Koerner ordered merchandise from IMHE for personal use and picked up the items directly from Garcia.
• From March 9, 2005, to July 16, 2016, Koerner and Garcia prepared and submitted fraudulent invoices to INOB for Koerner’s personal items.
• The defendants submitted over $150,000 in fraudulent invoices to INOB for “miscellaneous” parts and inflating the cost of each item by 75 percent.
• An IMHE employee discovered the scheme and reported the facts to INOB, who contacted the Irvine Police Department (IPD). IPD investigated this case.

Prosecutor: Senior Deputy District Attorney Marc Labreche, Major Fraud Unit