Former employee of Spectrum Brands charged with fraud scheme

MADISON — On Wednesday, August 2, 2017 Shonn Northam, 46, Briggsville, Wis., was charged in a 24-count indictment with mail and wire fraud, money laundering, and identity theft. The indictment alleges that from February 2013 to November 2014, Northam, while an employee of Spectrum Brand Holdings, Inc., conducted a scheme to defraud Spectrum and others.

The indictment alleges that Northam used his position as a customer service representative at Spectrum to embezzle money by submitting false warranty claims, through the following actions:

1. In early 2013, Northam started US Proud, an organization that hosted beauty pageants for the LGBT community;

2. He falsely claimed that Spectrum was sponsoring events hosted by US Proud;

3. Northam submitted false warranty claims to Spectrum, and in some instances, used a variation of the name of a customer to create multiple payments;

4. He had customer warranty checks delivered directly to himself;

5. He forged endorsements on the checks and deposited them into bank accounts under his control;

6. He misused the identities of friends, family members, and US Proud pageant participants to generate false warranty claim checks; and

7. He lied to his supervisor at Spectrum when his actions were questioned.

If convicted, Northam faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on each of the six mail fraud, five wire fraud, and five money laundering counts. He faces a mandatory minimum penalty of two years on each of the eight identity theft charges, which would be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed.