A Manteca man pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud.

The big picture: Justin Alexander Payne, 50, worked as an IT director for a family-owned, independent fuel supplier, distributor and retailer company in Modesto from December 2017 to September 2023. • Payne used his company-issued credit card to make unauthorized purchases of gift cards from multiple retailers and sold them to online businesses that specialize in purchasing unwanted gift cards to convert them to cash. • Those online businesses conducted at least 3,700 transactions from Payne. • He also used the credit card to make unauthorized purchases of personal items, including clothing, golf equipment and home improvement products. • Payne falsified expense reports to make it appear as if the purchases were for legi

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