Businessman Arrested For Corruption, Stealing From Local Company

Joe Hornaday

Three years ago, the Indiana State Police was asked to investigate the theft of property from M&S; Precision Machining, Inc., in Greensburg. On Tuesday, an arrest was made.

Danny L. Pinson, 37, 1715 N. Anderson Street, Greensburg, was arrested on charges of theft and corrupt business influence. He was booked at the Decatur County Jail and no bond was set.

Pinson was charged on seven counts, including receiving, retaining and disposing of stolen property and acting with others who were employed by and who knowingly participated in the alleged illegal activities of an enterprise through racketeering.

According to the statement of ISP Det. Anthony Scott in the probable cause affidavit, Pinson possessed Nacco Hyster flywheels and other parts that were stolen from M&S; that were to be machined by M&S; and processed for the Naaco customer. He also allegedly possessed a quantity of unique machined and unprocessed forgings known as “chart shafts” that were custom ordered but stolen from M&S;, some of which were sold to an M&S; customer and some were sold for scrap. Pinson was also charged with stealing business records, possessing various items of M&S; equipment stolen from the company that were allegedly found abandoned by Pinson at his “Intech Manufacturing” facility in Seymour. He also allegedly possessed and later trashed M&S; property including a coolant pump, a machine motor, tooling and raw materials. Finally, Pinson was charged with possessing at least five machines known as “tombstones” which were stolen from the M&S; warehouse, four of which were loaned to M&S; by a customer. The value of the property exceeded more than $100,000. Pinson allegedly acted with others who were employed by M&S; from Aug. 2005 to Oct. 2006. According to court documents and the probable cause affidavit, it was Pinson’s intent to make and sell machined parts acting under the cover of Intech Manufacturing.

The affidavit explains that M&S; employees and Robert Packmayer, CEO for PCM Holdings, Inc., that now owns M&S;, had reason to believe that the company’s material was being stolen and delivered to another machine shop in Seymour. Pachmayer involved consultant Larry Fair to analyze the cost overrun problems at M&S.; Intech Manufacturing was located in Seymour.

Pinson had originally been hired as a shop floor setup engineer at M&S; in March 2000. He continued as an employee until Aug. 2005. As a result of his employment, PInson had access to everything owned by M&S;, the affidavit explains. In the summer of 2006, Pinson took control of Advance Machine and Tool of Seymour, Inc. Business records indicate that Pinson was engaged in production and purchase orders by Intech in Aug. 2006. However, the documents for the actual sale of the business by Advance were not executed until Nov. 2005.

During an early internal investigation, M&S; records showed that between 40,000 and 50,000 pounds of brass were missing from M&S; control. The company machined raw brass for Delta Faucet. Then, brass was a very expensive raw material for manufacturing. All of the brass shavings and scrap was collected, saved and should have been shipped back to Delta for an account credit. Delta would then send the scrap back to the foundry where it was processed and given back to Delta.

In Aug. 2006, it was discovered that someone was sending the brass scrap to Schneider Scrap Metal, Inc., in Osgood. Records showed that Pinson’s partner was being personally paid for the brass scrap.

In Feb. 2006, it was discovered that irregularities at M&S; went far beyond the loss of scrap. Ultimately, investigations resulted in finding that M&S; machines, tools and raw materials were being sent to Intech, Pinson’s company in Seymour, and used for production there.

When new tooling was purchased by M&S;, the item was given a specific and unique inventory number, the affidavit states. As a result, M&S; records would show how much consumable equipment was used in each production operation. Much of the M&S; tooling is custom made and cannot be found in the catalogues of industrial suppliers, according to the affidavit.

Some of the M&S; equipment moved to Intech was done so under the guise of a business transaction. If Intech was using M&S; equipment, Pinson and Intech could duplicate M&S; production and take customers away, Scott stated in his report. Based upon the investigation, it was determined Intech was bidding and trying to sell identical parts to M&S; customers.

In Sept. 2006, the attorney representing M&S; received an anonymous telephone call from an Intech employee, alleging that Pinson was indeed taking M&S; equipment and using it at Intech. Additionally, the whistle-blower said that because of the investigation and a letter from the attorney, some of the M&S; property at Intech was being sold as scrap to avoid discovery. The anonymous caller delivered cell phone pictures of the M&S; property at Intech to identify it.

On Oct. 24, 2006, ISP Det. Scott talked with an employee at Intech who corroborated the story that equipment had been funneled to Intech from M&S.; Later that month during a visit to the abandoned Intech facility, 20 flywheels were found that M&S; had purchased to be sold to Nacco. The flywheels were originally stored by M&S; at the warehouse in Greensburg. More stolen goods were found as the investigation continued.

The charge of a corrupt business influence is a Class C Felony, punishable upon conviction by a fine of up to $10,000 and a jail sentence of up to eight years. There are multiple Class C and Class D felony charges for Pinson.

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