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Matt Lile Gets 1 Year in Prison for Embezzlement

2 min read

Little Rock businessman John Mathis “Matt” Lile was sentenced Wednesday to one year and one day in federal prison for embezzling more than $100,000 from the insurance company where he was president.

Lile, 56, pleaded guilty in September and agreed to the sentence. He also agreed to pay $118,500 in restitution for the money he stole from Cosmopolitan Life Insurance Co., which state insurance regulators took into receivership in 2009, according to a news release from the office of U.S. Attorney Christopher Thyer. Lile was also well known as the former owner of Lulav restaurant in Little Rock.

As part of the plea agreement, federal prosecutors dismissed the second count of the indictment issued in April 2013, which had to do with alleged embezzlement from the related Advanced Insurance Brokerage of America Inc., of which Lile was chairman.

The original indictment put the total amount embezzled at more than $300,000. Cosmopolitan funded and managed self-insurance health care plans for small businesses around the state.

Lile admitted that he abused his position by using a company-issued American Express credit card to pay for thousands of dollars in personal expenses over a three-year period. He used the company’s money to fund his family vacations to Las Vegas, Destin and Italy; buy restaurant supplies; take cruises; and pay for tanning and Hannah Montana tickets, the news release said.

“Matt Lile treated Cosmopolitan like his own personal piggy bank,” Thyer said in the news release. “The United State Attorney’s Office will aggressively pursue anyone who, like Lile, abuses our trust.”

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