Fmr. Allina Health VP Pleads Guilty To Embezzling More Than $400K

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A man who used to be a vice president at Allina Health has pleaded guilty to swindling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the company.

On Thursday, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced 54-year-old David Johnson, of Inver Grove Heights, pleaded guilty to four counts of theft by swindle (over $35,000).

Freeman says Johnson began swindling his employer, Allina, in 2004, but the charges only included thefts since 2013 due to the statute of limitations, which is five years.

Since 2013, Johnson admitted to taking more than $417,000. Investigators, however, suspect he embezzled closer to $775,000.

Johnson allegedly falsified many expense reports using invoices citing the name of a printing company that went out of business in 2000.

He is also accused of using his Allina credit card to buy season tickets to virtually every Minnesota pro and college team in 2014. In all, Johnson racked up $184,344 on the credit card within the past five years.

Johnson was confronted about his suspected fraudulent activity in May of 2017, and was placed on administrated leave. He has since been fired.

In court, Johnson admitted he committed the crimes detailed in the criminal complaint, but did not elaborate on the charges filed against him.

He will be sentenced on June 6. As part of his plea agreement, three other counts will be dropped and he will be sentenced to 45 months, or nearly 4 years, in prison.