Hall County man stole from employer, donated $80K to church, spent $100K for hunting trips

GAINESVILLE, Ga. — A Flowery Branch man pleaded guilty to organizing a more than $1 million scheme to cheat his employer by stealing rebate checks and submitting false invoices.

Around 2016, Michael Mayfield, 55, of Flowery Branch was an environmental manager at the Mars Wrigley factory in Flowery Branch.

According to the Department of Justice, his role oversaw the Health, Safety, and Environmental and Recycling Programs.

Companies would send Mars Wrigley rebate checks after disposing of recycling waste. But, instead of Mars Wrigley receiving the payments, Mayfield sent the checks to his own company, WWJ Recycling, the DOJ said.

The fraudulent checks totaled over $500,000.

The DOJ said Mayfield used the funds to pay for hunting trips worth over $100,000, a donation to his church for more than $80,000, and over $200,000 in personal checks.

Officials said Mayfield also made his co-conspirator create false invoices from ASA Safety Supply, a supplier to Mars Wrigley. The co-conspirator sent the invoiced items to Mayfield for his personal use and then submitted false invoices from ASA Safety Supply to Mars Wrigley for payment.

The purchased items included football supplies for the Flowery Branch High School football team, such as cleats and clothing, improvements to the stadium, tickets to a University of Georgia football game, and gift cards. The fake invoices totaled more than $199,000.

The 55-year-old also sent invoices from WWJ Recycling to ASA Safety Supply. His co-conspirator told ASA Safety Supply to pay those invoices and then submit the false invoices to Mars Wrigley for payment for work that was not completed, according to the DOJ. The WWJ Recycle invoices totaled more than $750,000.

Last week, Mayfield pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 2.

“After being entrusted with a fiduciary role, he betrayed that trust and demonstrated that he cared more about his personal gain than the faith his employer placed in him,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan.