Decipher was once a major force in the tabletop game industry, with nearly 100 employees and some of the most popular CCGs and RPGs on the market. It didn’t last, though, due primarily to a massive amount of embezzlement. The embezzlement lawsuit against Rick Eddleman, former VP of Finance for Decipher, has continued, and now a verdict has been reached. Eddleman, who has been convicted of stealing $8.9 million from Decipher over a ten year period, has been sentenced to 36 years in prison, of which he will actually serve just over 6 years. Upon release, Eddleman has been ordered to pay $910,000 to Decipher, but since Eddleman hasn’t accumulated any obvious signs of wealth that could be repossessed, repayment will take time. WKTR News out of Norfolk, VA has video interviews with both Decipher CEO Warren Holland (Eddleman’s brother-in-law) and now-convicted embezzler Rick Eddleman.
Time to kick the horse, eh?
It’s mind boggling how so much money just disappears into vapor…
Sadly, “conviction” does not equal “recovery of assets.” Sure the guy is going to jail but he pretty much destroyed the company. They’re just in a slow death spiral now.
Right. My remark of “repayment will take time” was an optimistic one. Repayment isn’t something the folks at Decipher are counting on.
While not excusing (P)Rick’s behavior, you’d think someone there would have noticed that amount of money going out the door. I may be making a completely off-base comment but I think part of the problem is hiring “family” instead of professionals.
Also, WKTR continually showed the company name as “Decifer.”
Check out this site to see how it was done. http://www.embezzlementfromdecipher.com/