Texas Man Who Diverted Funds From Richmond Company For Personal Use Sentenced To One Year In Federal Prison

OAKLAND - Neil Divers was sentenced today to 12 months and one day in federal prison for wire fraud and money laundering. The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Jon S. Tigar, U.S. District Judge.

Divers, 66, of Godley, Tex., who previously resided in Chico, Calif., pleaded guilty on July 17, 2024, to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. As described in court documents, in 2015, Divers partially owned and operated Kodiak Precision, Inc. (Kodiak), a machined component manufacturer in Richmond, Calif. According to the plea agreement, based on prior events, in 2016, the other owners of Kodiak imposed certain controls and procedures designed to prevent Divers from taking money from the company without permission from one or more of the other owners. Despite these controls and procedures, in or about July 2016 to about May 2018, Divers devised and executed a scheme to defraud by opening bank accounts in the name of Kodiak on which he was the only signatory without the knowledge or consent of the other owners of Kodiak. Divers admitted that he then caused an employee to instruct certain Kodiak customers to deposit funds owed to Kodiak into those accounts which were named as "Kodiak" accounts but as to which he was the sole authorized signatory.

According to the plea agreement, Divers took and used some of the diverted money to fund his lifestyle and not to benefit the company, including using $38,217.84 from his fraudulent scheme to purchase landscaping services for his home in August 2019.

In addition to the 12 months and one day prison term, Judge Tigar also ordered the defendant to pay restitution in an amount to be determined at a hearing on Jan. 7, 2025, and sentenced him to a three-year period of supervised release. Defendant will begin serving the sentence on Jan. 10, 2025.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Oakland Field Office Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Mosley.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Rees and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia Johnson are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Kay Konopaske. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the IRS-CI.