Former Homewood finance director pleads guilty to stealing nearly $1 million from city

HOMEWOOD, Ala. ( WIAT ) — The former finance director for the city of Homewood could spend decades in prison after pleading guilty to stealing nearly $1 million from the city over the course of a year.

On Friday, Robert Burgett pleaded guilty to three federal counts of wire fraud following his arrest earlier this spring on aggravated theft by deception charges . The case was initially being handled in circuit court, but he made his plea in federal court.

According to his plea deal, Burgett embezzled over $947,000 from city accounts between May 2023 and at least March 2024. He admitted to hiding his scheme by moving the money into a bank account he had called Burgett Builders Contemporary Enterprise, which was not an authorized vendor for Homewood and did not do any services for the city. Once the money had been transferred, he would take it out of that account and move it into his personal account.

Prosecutors claim that Burgett made 20 electronic transfers to his account, 15 of which were successful, totaling approximately $947,059.46.

“On multiple occasions, BURGETT chose to transfer to his Burgett Builders account an amount identical to a legitimate Homewood account deposit the same month. Burgett then used whiteout correction fluid on the paper Homewood bank account statement to remove both the legitimate deposit and the corresponding EFT withdrawal, leaving an accurate beginning and ending statement balance,” the plea agreement stated. “After altering the physical statement, Burgett scanned it electronically and forwarded it for use in Homewood’s bank reconciliation process.”

Homewood police first began its investigation of Burgett on April 3 after receiving a report of “irregularities in movement of city funds. According to the Homewood Star , Burgett had retired from the city days before on March 31 after 13 years as finance director.

After being released from jail on a $500,000 bond, Burgett was placed under a GPS monitoring system. On Aug. 7, a judge allowed Burgett to travel anywhere in Alabama for work, although he was not allowed to be in Homewood.

Burgett, 64, is facing up to 20 years in prison and fines less than $250,000.

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