A Craighead County Circuit judge on Wednesday ordered a Jonesboro accountant to pay his former client $9 million for embezzling money since the mid 1990s.
Roach Manufacturing Corp. in Trumann received the judgment from a civil lawsuit against Edward M. Cooper Jr., after a hearing Wednesday morning in front of Circuit Judge John Fogleman.
The conveyor system manufacturer had asked Fogleman to award it $9 million before the case got to trial on some of its claims against Cooper. The claims are breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, unjust enrichment and commission of a felony.
Roach initially alleged in a lawsuit filed in May that Cooper embezzled $4.5 million over several years. After doing more digging, Roach said the alleged embezzlement went back to the 1990s and totaled $9 million.
Roach’s filings and other evidence “demonstrate that there is no genuine issue of material fact as to any of the stated claims, and Roach is entitled to judgment as a matter of law,” said Roach’s attorney David Wilson, of Friday Eldredge & Clark of Little Rock, in his motion for partial summary judgment.
Fogleman agreed.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Cooper hasn’t been charged with a crime. In January, Scott Ellington, prosecuting attorney for the 2nd Judicial District, told Arkansas Business that federal investigators were looking into the case.
Roach also is suing Cooper’s wife, LaNita Cooper, but Wednesday’s judgment didn’t include her. She has denied Roach’s allegations of wrongdoing in her court filing. In December, she filed for divorce after 47 years of marriage.
Bill Stanley of Jonesboro, who represents Ed Cooper, declined to comment.
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