Former President of Maryland Corporation Indicted for Embezzling over $885,000
Corporate Checks to Phone Sex Partners and Prostitutes Claimed as Advertising Expenses
Baltimore, Maryland - A federal grand jury today returned an indictment charging Mark Chandler Goodnow, age 55, of Pasadena, Maryland with wire fraud for embezzling more than $885,000 from a corporation he controlled.
The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“Corporate officers are fiduciaries for investors and other stakeholders,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “A corporate executive cannot spend money for personal benefit and falsely report it as a business expense.”
According to the one count indictment, Goodnow was the president and chief executive officer of a fast food franchise that maintained its principal office in Severna Park, Maryland. From September 2006 to January 2011, Goodnow allegedly diverted company funds to pay personal expenses.
The indictment alleges Goodnow wrote hundreds of unauthorized corporate checks totaling more than $885,000. Goodnow allegedly used corporate money to pay three Texas women for telephone sex, to pay personal expenses of one of the women, and to pay prostitutes in Maryland. Goodnow allegedly concealed the unauthorized expenditures by reporting them in the company’s records as advertising expenditures.
Goodnow faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Goodnow’s initial appearance in federal court in Baltimore is expected to be scheduled later this week.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
This law enforcement action is part of President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the FBI for its work in the investigation and praised Assistant U.S. Attorney Martin Clarke, who is prosecuting the case.
