He never worked for Zirkle Fruit, but still got paid $102,000

A 20-year-old Kennewick man who never worked a day for one of Eastern Washington’s largest apple and cherry producers admitted cashing in on nearly $102,000 in paychecks.

Mario David Prado’s mother was friends with the ringleader, who created nine "phantom" employees to embezzle nearly $1 million from Zirkle Fruit Company in a years-long scheme.

Prado’s name was put on the payroll list, along with his mother, father and sister.

His mother, Esmeralda Prado, allegedly agreed to participate because she was having financial troubles in late 2013 and early 2014, according to court documents.

The agreement with bookkeeper Norma Ruth Garza was that Esmeralda Prado and others had to give back half of the value of each paycheck, documents said.

In all, 11 people have been charged with various crimes in Benton County Superior Court in connection with the scheme.

Mario Prado is only the second to resolve his case. He recently pleaded guilty to first-degree theft and three counts of forgery.

Sentencing is set for April 19. The standard range is four months to one year in county jail because of Prado’s lack of criminal history.

Deputy Prosecutor Terry Bloor said in the plea statement that he will recommend 10 months.

Garza, 52, was sentenced in November to five years and eight months in prison for charges of leading an organized crime and four counts of forgery.

The full restitution she was ordered to pay is $864,647.

The trials for six co-defendants — all family and friends — have been pushed into March and April.

Meanwhile, Garza’s fellow bookkeeper and the bookkeeper’s husband and father all have yet to appear in court. Investigators say they can’t be found.

Garza and Maria Teresa Galarza worked for the Selah-based company out of the Paterson branch office.

It was only when both women were off on a payday that the manager of a Finley ranch noticed he had extra checks for non-employees, court documents said.

Both women tried to avoid any suspicion by calling in that day and claiming there had been a mistake, but their unusual behavior brought attention and sparked an audit of the company’s payroll, documents said.

The investigation dated back to April 2010 and reportedly totaled about $956,000 in fraudulent paychecks.

Records show that Prado had received 153 paychecks between May 2013 and November 2016.

Galarza and her husband, Geronimo Marquez Galarza, both have no-bail warrants on charges of forgery and theft.

Juan Antonio Ulloa, the father of Maria Galarza, is wanted on a $5,000 warrant, also for theft and forgery.

This story was originally published January 22, 2018 at 6:20 PM with the headline "He never worked for Zirkle Fruit, but still got paid $102,000."