LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - An Arkansas man who admitted stealing more than $9 million while working as an accountant for a manufacturing business has been sentenced to five years in federal prison.
Edward M. Cooper pleaded guilty in January to bank fraud and admitted writing 138 unauthorized checks to himself on account that belongs to Roach Manufacturing Corp., which makes conveyers and conveying equipment.
On Tuesday, Cooper was sentenced in federal court and he apologized to the family that owns the Trumann-based business.
“I really want to apologize to all the Roaches,” he said. “They trusted me implicitly, and I took full advantage of that. They treated me like family, and I didn’t respond that way.”
According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Cooper admitted using the money to travel extensively, buy jewelry and furs for his wife, and to build a $2 million cabin on the Spring River in Fulton County, on the border with Missouri.
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