Pinnacle Workforce Solutions President Sentenced to Prison for Payroll Rip-off

guilty on March 20 to one count of wire fraud. Per the plea agreement, McEwan admitted to owning and operating Pinnacle Workforce Solutions, a payroll processing company. Some of the services Pinnacle provided included distributing paychecks to employees, allocating employee withholdings and making provisions for income tax payments.

As part of the process, Pinnacle was required to obtain access to sensitive banking and personal information. Pinnacle (in the course of providing its services) routinely withdrew funds from its customers’ bank accounts and had access and authorization to initiate wire transfers from its customers’ bank accounts.

Bad Decisions – Go Straight to Jail

In the plea agreement, McEwan admitted that, dating back to 2009, Pinnacle was operating at a financial loss. Under pressure, McEwan made the decision to routinely wire funds out of client bank accounts.