A former Army captain from Fayetteville was arraigned Tuesday in federal court in Atlanta on charges that he and an accomplice stole more than $2.7 million from the U.S. government while serving in Saudi Arabia.
Jasen Minter, 41, faces conspiracy and theft charges. The federal indictment also names Louis E. Nock, 45, of Orlando, a senior noncommissioned officer also serving in Saudi Arabia. Both men were released on bond, prosecutors said.
Minter and Nock, who served as finance officers assigned to the U.S. Military Training Mission in Saudi Arabia in 2006, are accused of embezzling the funds from a U.S. government bank account at the Saudi Arabia American Bank in Riyadh. The account was supposed to be used to support U.S. troops.
The more than $2.7 million was withdrawn in two transactions but never delivered to the finance office in the Saudi capital, the prosecutors said.
Instead, the two men sent the money back to their families to fund “luxurious lifestyles,” prosecutors said.
The Army’s mission "is simply too important for its own officers to steal critical resources from their fellow servicemen and, as alleged in this case, line their own pockets with cash,” U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said Tuesday in a statement.
Minter and Nock each face up to five years in prison on the conspiracy count and 10 years on the theft count if convicted. They also face a fine of up to $250,000 on each count.
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