ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A former treasurer for the City of Houston was indicted March 21 on charges of wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion.Willow resident Jess George Adams embezzled more than $1.16 million from the City of Houston and from an equipment company in Wasilla from 2015 to 2022.
During that time, Adams allegedly used his position to electronically transfer money for the city to a personal bank account, using fictitious entries in accounting software used by the city to make it appear the transfers were legitimate. The department said Adams made several wire transfers of over $10,000 each from his personal bank account to other accounts in an embezzlement scheme, then lied about the transfers in tax returns he filed from 2016 to 2021.
If convicted, Adams could potentially face up to 20 years in jail for each wire fraud charge, 10 years for each money laundering count, and five years for each tax evasion count.