SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - A former manager of a Chatham County company has been sentenced to eight years in prison for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars.

57-year-old John Laakso, also known as John Trebesch, of Savannah, was sentenced after pleading guilty to wire fraud charges. He was charged in November 2024 with one count of wire fraud and entered his guilty plea last week.

According to to court documents and in court testimony, Laakso- a former Engineering Manager for the local company. Used his position to defraud his employer of nearly $500,000. He did so by secretly awarding lucrative contracts to his own pass-through companies, both for services that Laakso never provided, and for goods and services that Laakso secretly billed to his employer at a fraudulent rate.

“John L

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