Ex-Nevada Power employee pleads guilty to fraud charges

By Mary Manning

Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008 | 4:19 p.m.

A former Nevada Power employee pleaded guilty today to federal wire fraud charges for stealing at least $1.6 million from a utility company bank account between 2002 and 2006.

Kyle Roher, 38, of Las Vegas, made his plea before U.S. District Judge James C. Mahan to two counts of wire fraud and agreed to forfeit more than $1.7 million, said Greg Brower, U.S. Attorney for Nevada.

Roher was indicted in April and has been released on a personal recognizance bond.

Roher worked as a senior business analyst at Nevada Power Company, responsible for financial planning, court records said.

Roher allegedly planned and carried out a scheme to steal money from a Nevada Power "general spending" bank account by preparing forged wire transfer forms, authorizing disbursements from the utility's bank account to two bank accounts that Roher controlled at Bank of America.

Between Sept. 30, 2002, and Oct. 26, 2006, Roher submitted roughly 19 such forms for unauthorized disbursements, transferring over $1.6 million to his Bank of America accounts.

In October 2006 after discovering Roher's scheme, Bank of America froze payments to Roher's accounts, including another $100,000 wire transfer, which Roher had fraudulently authorized, court records said.

Sentencing is set for Nov. 12. The final sentence will be decided by the court. The maximum imprisonment that can be imposed under federal statutes on each count is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The case is being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey T. Tao.