SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - A Scottsdale man was sentenced to six and a half years in federal prison after embezzling more than $10.7 million from his local employer to fund a lavish lifestyle that included high-end concert tickets, luxury vacations and sporting events.
What we know:
Mark Latham, 61, was ordered by U.S. District Judge Dominic W. Lanza to serve 78 months in federal prison and pay $10,752,535 in restitution following a guilty plea to wire fraud.
The backstory:
Federal prosecutors said Latham accepted a role as finance director at Performance Software Corporation in 2009 and almost immediately began siphoning company funds. Over nearly two decades, he systematically transferred money into his personal bank account, paid off personal credit card debts, issued himself unauthorized bonuses and covered rent for a relative’s apartment. Latham managed to conceal the multi-million dollar fraud until he was caught in 2025 by altering the company's bank statements to delete all records of payments made to himself.
Dig deeper:
Court records show Latham used the stolen funds to live luxuriously for years. His splurges included $39,000 for 2023 Super Bowl tickets, $29,731 for Taylor Swift concert tickets in 2023 and 2024, and $38,827 on NFL season tickets. Latham also spent $46,248 for a room at the Four Seasons Hotel in Costa Rica in 2018 and dropped $28,098 on a custom golf simulator in 2024.
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from the Offices of the United States Attorneys and the FBI’s Phoenix Division.