Law EnforcementDecember 31, 2020

Financial Journal Comptroller Pleads Guilty in Embezzlement Scheme

Eric Whitehead, of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, faces 20 years in prison for using company assets to pay for personal expenses.

Reported by Michael Katz

The comptroller of financial journal Grant’s Interest Rate Observer pleaded guilty to wire fraud for his role in a scheme to embezzle approximately $1.3 million from the publishing company.

Eric Whitehead, 53, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He will be sentenced April 9.

According to court documents, from 2015 through 2020, Whitehead used wire transfers and cash deposits for his own benefit without authorization from his company.

Whitehead allegedly used company assets to pay for personal credit card expenses, overpay personal credit cards to receive cash balance refunds, write checks to cash for deposit into personal bank accounts, and purchase precious metals to sell for a profit. Whitehead allegedly embezzled company funds for a total loss of approximately $1.3 million.

“Eric Ian Whitehead exploited his position of trust as comptroller of a publishing company to embezzle more than $1 million from the company,” Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a statement.

James Grant, an iconoclastic writer and publisher, founded Grant’s Interest Rate Observer in 1983.