The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office, in cooperation with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, says it has finished an investigation resulting in the indictment of Jason Kittle, a former Volunteer Energy Cooperative (VEC) accountant.

Comptroller Justin P. Wilson says investigators determined that Kittle stole at least $994,981 between June, 2011 and December, 2017.

Wilson says Kittle used three schemes to steal VEC money for his personal use.

• Kittle stole $735,318 by making 242 transfers from a VEC account to his personal bank account.
• Kittle stole $229,293 by making 204 payments to his personal credit card account.
• Kittle stole $30,368 by making 48 payments to a credit card account in the name of a family member.

Wilson says Kittle was able to conceal his misappropriation by recording the fraudulent transactions in VEC’s accounting system as online payment fees, returns, or similar transactions. He says Kittle also managed and reconciled the statements of the VEC bank account, which allowed the theft to remain undetected for years.

Kittle admitted to VEC officials that payments were made to his personal credit card account from the VEC bank account. He was fired on January 2nd, 2018.