Coke exec sentenced to prison for corporate fraud

A former senior national account executive with The Coca-Cola Co. was sentenced last week to two years and three months in prison for siphoning over $400,000 in corporate American Express gift checks for his personal use.

Jeffrey David Shamp, 40, of Cincinnati, Ohio, worked for The Coca-Cola Company from approximately July 2002 to November 2011, most recently as a Senior National Account Executive based in Massachusetts. In his position, Shamp was authorized to order American Express (AMEX) gift checks to be used as part of a sales incentive program for Coca-Cola’s customers.

From approximately November 2005 through September 2011, according to the feds, Shamp fraudulently obtained AMEX gift checks under the false pretense that the checks would be used as part of Coca-Cola’s sales incentive program, when in fact Shamp used them to pay for more than $400,000 in personal expenses, including alimony and rent payments, and as gifts to friends and relatives.

Shamp pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud before United States District Court Steve C. Jones on Feb. 27. In addition to his two year and three month sentence, Shamp was ordered to pay $411,550 in restitution to The Coca-Cola Company.