Local Fraud Case Similar To 2014 Incident In Franklin
Posted
Michael Anderson-manderson@timesuniononline.com
A former Zimmer Biomet employee accused of taking a co-worker’s debit card was investigated for a credit card incident in 2014. Brent Odom, 54, Indianapolis, is facing two counts of fraud in Kosciusko County Superior Court I. Court documents list Odom as having an Indianapolis address, despite the fact he was employed at Zimmer Biomet in Warsaw. Police say Odom took a co-worker’s debit card Jan. 4 and made a purchase for $30 at Meijer and a purchase for $106.37 at Walmart. He was arrested Feb. 23. Representatives from Zimmer Biomet did not respond to a request for comment. Odom was fired from a previous job after officials said he made fraudulent credit card charges. Odom was the plant manager for Berry Plastics in Franklin. He was terminated after allegedly making fraudulent credit card purchases with company cards, according to a report from the Franklin Police Department. On Oct 8, 2014, a human resources manager from Berry Plastics contacted Franklin police. She told police they had just fired Odom, the plant manager, for fraudulent use of company credit cards, the police report states. According to the police report, Odom had been obtaining company-issued credit cards and using them to create fake invoices and then approving the invoices. Some of the fake invoices had to do with a “ghost employee” payroll scandal, where money was being paid to people through a staffing agency, even though the people never worked for the company, police said. The amount stolen was over $7,000, according to the police report. One of the employees allegedly involved in the ghost payroll scam was Jeri Wright. According to court records, company officials say Jeri Wright never worked at Berry Plastics. Jeri Wright is the daughter of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the controversial former pastor of Barack Obama. A search of Odom’s desk at Berry Plastics found an invoice addressed to Jeri Wright from a law firm for $39,809.76, billed as defense “legal charges,” according to court records. The desk also contained a letter from I-Pass, Illinois Tollway, for the replacement of Jeri Wright’s vehicle transponder, according to court records. The investigation into Odom’s activities at Berry Plastics led to Wright’s bond in a separate case being revoked. At the time of the investigation into Berry Plastics, Jeri Wright was out on bail in a separate case, awaiting sentencing on money-laundering charges in federal court. United States District Judge Sue Myerscough revoked Wright’s bond based on the Berry Plastics investigation after it was brought to her attention by Jeri Wright’s federal probation officer. The judge ruled, “There is probable cause to believe that the defendant committed a felony.” Wright and Odom were never charged in connection with the Berry Plastics investigation. Johnson County Prosecutor Bradley Cooper did not respond to a query about why charges were never filed. Jeri Wright was sentenced to two years in prison on the money laundering charges. She was convicted of helping a childhood friend, Regina Evans, convert fake paychecks from Evans and her husband’s nonprofit for their personal use. Evans was the former police chief of Country Club Hills, Ill., a suburb south of Chicago. Odom is out on bond awaiting further court proceedings in Kosciusko County.
