Iowa City man pleads guilty to embezzling $3.2 million from California employer
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) - An Iowa City man pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of wire fraud after scheming to defraud his former California employer out of more than $3.2 million.
Court documents say Euan David MacGregor, 54, who went by the name David Bean at the time, used his position as Chief Administrative Officer to embezzle money from his employer between Nov. 2014 and Jan. 2020.
The court documents say MacGregor took at least 122 checks made payable to his employer and diverted them to bank accounts he controlled.
MacGregor reportedly created a shell corporation that had a business name similar to the name of his employer, and deposited the checks into the bank accounts he had opened in the name of the shell corporation.
He then presented false financial information to the company’s president and shareholders, causing them to believe they had received the money from the checks.
MacGregor also created another company he controlled, called “Essential Business Services,” so he could falsely tell his employers he had outsourced their bookkeeping work to a third party company.
That caused MacGregor’s employer to pay thousands of dollars a month for bookkeeping services, the company was not providing.
According to the court documents, MacGregor used the money he had been getting through this fraudulent scheme to pay for personal expenses, like buying vehicles, paying credit card payments and mortgage payments, and paying for expenses for his family, like educational expenses and travel-related expenses.
MacGregor is set to be sentenced on Jan. 28, 2025. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
MacGregor was hired by Virginia Gay Hospital in Vinton as its new CEO in June 2024.
In a statement to KCRG-TV9, the hospital’s Board of Directors said MacGregor is no longer employed by the hospital. The Hospital’s CFO, Barry Dietsch, and CNO, Tina Eden, are serving as interim executive leaders until a new CEO is hired.
The board said it could not comment further on the matter.
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