Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — An architectural consultant has been charged by the Utah Attorney General's Office with using company credit cards to finance expensive fishing and golfing trips.
Matthew Ryan Tison, 41, of Provo, was charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with two counts of theft, a second-degree felony; three counts of communications fraud, a second-degree felony; and engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity, a second-degree felony.
Investigators say Tison worked as the Salt Lake City branch manager for Gexpro, an electrical supply distribution company, between December of 2013 and October of 2014.
Tison used company credit cards "for personal travel and entertainment," including a fishing trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a trip with his girlfriend to Washington, D.C., a trip to Scotland for a golf event called the Crewe Cup, and to buy a membership to the Riverside Country Club in Provo, according to charging documents. He is also accused of buying tickets to sporting events and concerts using a company credit card.
The golf trip to Scotland cost about $30,000 in entry fees, travel expenses, lodging and caddy fees, the charges state. Gexpro declined to pay those charges.
Tison's membership at the country club in Provo cost nearly $4,300, according to court records. In all, excluding the golf trip to Scotland, prosecutors allege Tison made about $26,000 in unauthorized purchases on two company credit cards.
Tison has a prior criminal history that includes multiple arrests for felony fraud investigations, and he was convicted of a fraud charge in 2009 that was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor, according to the charges.
