Anonymous Tip Leads to Embezzling Conviction

By John Wisley

An anonymous tip called into a corporate ethics hotline started an investigation that landed a former Troy resident in the county jail.

John Foust, 42, will spend the next 11 months in jail and the next five years on probation. Oakland Circuit Judge Edward Sosnick also ordered Foust to pay $240,000 in restitution after he pleaded no contest to embezzling money from his former employer, PPG Industries, a Pittsburgh company with offices in Troy.

Most corporations handle white-collar crimes internally, but PPG Industries joins a small but growing number of companies that also seeks criminal charges.

“A serious crime had been committed, and we felt we had an obligation to notify law enforcement,” said PPG spokesman Jeff Worden. “When substantial evidence is uncovered that indicates that a crime has been committed, our first thoughts leaned toward prosecution. We believe it was the right thing to do.”

DaimlerChrysler took a similar stance in August against a man who allegedly bilked $278,000 from the company by padding the resumes of contract engineers. His case is pending.

“It is a situation where the defendant has to be punished,” said assistant prosecutor Greg Townsend, who handled Foust’s case and asked the judge to order jail time.

Investigators said Foust took the money by padding his expense reports.

“He set up phony corporations and said that they provided products to him,” said Troy police Sgt. James Clark. “He filed expense reports for educational seminars he didn’t attend.”

In one case, Foust claimed to have attended a seminar at the University of Michigan. He turned in his application form and a copy of his check to the University of Michigan, Clark said.

But when investigators looked closer, they found he never attended and the university was never paid. Clark said the case began with an anonymous call. Company investigators looked into it and the trail led to Foust.

“I still don’t know who called it in,” said Gary Marino, corporate security manager for PPG. “They just said you might want to look in this area.”

Company officials started the ethics hotline in February 1999 and said they get more than 100 calls a year on it. The calls involve not only allegations of wrongdoing but also safety and communication issues that employees want addressed.

Foust’s title was managing director of global launch for Mexico. He had been with the company for 22 years before being fired after the investigation. Investigators said Foust was going through a divorce during the period he was taking the money.

Foust’s lawyer, Steven Bullock, sought probation so his client could continue to work to repay the company.

“It’s kind of a Catch-22,” Bullock said. “He’s certainly not making as much as he was.”

Foust currently works as a real estate agent, but will lose his license with the felony conviction. He will be allowed to serve in the county’s work release program, working during the day and spending his nights at the jail.