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<p>SCRANTON &#8212; A federal grand jury has indicted an Arkansas man on charges he used a phony payroll scheme to swindle a pipeline company&#8217;s Dunmore-based field office out of $300,000.</p><p>Federal prosecutors on Tuesday announced an indictment was returned by a grand jury Dec. 15 that charged Kevin L. Reese, 27, of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft following an investigation conducted by the FBI, according to the U.S. Attorney&#8217;s Office.</p><p>Prosecutors allege Reese, of Little Rock, Arkansas, created false payroll checks while managing a field office for Sheehan Pipe Line and Construction Company at 200 Keystone Industrial Park Dr., Dunmore.</p><p>Reese managed payroll and oversaw projects in the Scranton region for the pipeline construction company, whose main offices are located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, prosecutors said.</p><p>According to the indictment, Reese generated fraudulent checks between November 2014 and August 2015 in various amounts for hours employees hadn&#8217;t worked, then forged their signatures and cashed the checks &#8220;for the purpose of unlawfully enriching himself.&#8221;</p><p>Reese, whose employment was terminated in August following a company investigation into the fraud, allegedly created and generated the fraudulent checks for Sheehan employees for time periods that began either before or after the employees worked for the company, the indictment alleges.</p><p>If convicted, Reese could face up to 22 years in prison and $500,000 in fines, prosecutors said.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Joe Dolinsky</p><p>jdolinsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Federal prosecutors: Arkansas man defrauded $300k from pipeline company’s Dunmore office