Another ex-Home Depot buyer indicted in kickback scheme

By Larry Hartstein

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A federal investigation into kickbacks at Home Depot has produced another indictment.

Ian Jay Evans, 49, of Mableton, was arraigned Wednesday in Atlanta on charges he paid more than $1.4 million in bribes to a Home Depot product buyer.

In exchange, buyer Ronald Douglass Matheny II, 49, of Chattanooga arranged for the Atlanta-based retail giant to buy rugs and other items from Evans from 2002 to 2005, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Home Depot bought the items "on less than the most advantageous terms," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Evans, a former Home Depot product buyer who left the company in 2001, was indicted last week. He is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and 17 additional counts of money laundering.

Matheny pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He is to be sentenced Dec. 3.

"We appreciate the time and resources the U.S. Attorney’s Office continues to put into this investigation, and we will cooperate with them until this matter is resolved," Home Depot spokesman Ron DeFeo said.

In June, a former top flooring buyer was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison for masterminding a multimillion-dollar kickback scheme. Anthony Tesvich agreed to pay $8.2 million in restitution for the scheme, which led to the convictions of other former Home Depot employees and his ex-wife, Melissa Deaton Tesvich.

-- Staff writer Rachel Tobin Ramos contributed to this report.