Judge: ‘You treated the victim like your personal ATM’

MUKILTEO – The co-founder of a commercial flooring company based in Mukilteo has been behind bars for two years for embezzlement, a judge in the US District Court ruled on Friday.

David Gluth, 47, of Everett, founded Gluth Contract Flooring in 2007 with a friend who invested $ 500,000 in the company’s startup. For years, Gluth went behind the backs of his friend and business partner to take money from company accounts to pay for “luxury” vacations, liquor, Nordstrom purchases and his home mortgage, according to court records.

Gluth and the company’s accountant reportedly worked together on attempted fraud by the company from 2011 to 2016. The couple has committed “numerous acts of deception and cover-up,” according to the federal indictments, including fraudulent application and acceptance of credit, forgery of business records, lying to Gluth’s business partner and refusing to disclose documents to which the business partner is legally entitled was. According to the court files, the accountant must also file a criminal complaint.

The couple opened numerous bank accounts on behalf of the company without informing or obtaining consent from Gluth’s business partner. Gluth and the accountant reportedly discussed fraud schemes and schemes on Instant Messenger. In a conversation on February 10, 2014, Gluth informed the accountant about applying for a loan with a company account.

“I do it without the business partner’s knowledge,” wrote Gluth, “so if something goes wrong, it’s not good.”

The two were accused of falsifying a driver’s license in 2015 using the name of the business partner. The forged ID had a photo of another company employee.

In 2016 the company went bankrupt. An FBI investigation found that over $ 1 million was lost to improper personal purchases, improper asset sales, and unauthorized corporate debt.

Gluth was charged with embezzlement in November 2020. The Everett man pleaded guilty to wire fraud in January. In addition to the prison sentence, Gluth has to pay his business partner $ 325,000 in compensation.

“You treated the victim like your personal ATM,” said Richard A. Jones, District Court judge, to Gluth when he delivered his verdict. “Your return on (your friend’s) investment was orchestrating a significant and devastating scam.”

The accountant was charged with wire fraud in federal court in July 2020. She hadn’t made a plea by Friday afternoon.

Ellen Dennis: 425-339-3486; [email protected]; Twitter: @reporterellen