A Gainesville man was arraigned on federal charges Tuesday morning after allegedly embezzling more than $500,000 from a local trucking company over the course of over three years.
According to U.S Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg, Dustin Jarrard, age 38, served as the operations manager for the Gainesville-based Tribe Transportation from May 2018 through May 2024. Jarrard allegedly sent fraudulent reimbursement requests to Tribe Transportation, abusing his power to request expense reimbursements on truck drivers’ behalf.
Over the course of three years, Jarrard allegedly requested reimbursement for drivers who were not employed by the company, which resulted in payments Jarrard personally redeemed for his use. In other reported cases, Jarrard enlisted Tribe Transportation drivers and falsely submitted payment requests for expenses that never happened and layover bonuses that were not earned. After receiving funds that were not owed to them, the drivers transferred some of the money to Jarrard for his personal use.
“Jarrard allegedly stole more than $500,000 that was intended to help truckers on the road,” said Hertzberg. “We will hold accountable those who abuse their positions of trust and embezzle funds for their personal use.”
The drivers that are being connected to this investigation have not been publicly identified as of Wednesday morning.
“This case is a clear example of financial fraud fueled by greed,” said Paul Brown, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “Jarrard allegedly manipulated internal processes to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars. The FBI is committed to uncovering and stopping this kind of corporate theft.”
Jarrard was arraigned Tuesday, July 29, before United States Magistrate Judge Anna W. Howard after a federal grand jury indicted him on July 22 for wire fraud. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is currently handling this case.
Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Keen is prosecuting the case.
