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SALT LAKE CITY — A former Orbital ATK engineer faces criminal charges after the company paid him for ski passes for its employee benefits program and other items — to the tune of more than $60,000 — even though he allegedly never purchased them.
Adam Beyer Corliss, 40, was charged Friday with 10 counts of communications fraud and one count pattern of unlawful activity, all second-degree felonies.
From 2001 to 2017, according to an affidavit filed in 3rd District Court, Corliss worked in "various roles," including as an engineer and in business development and program management for ATK Launch Systems Inc.
He was also the president of an employee benefits program called "Club Hub."
The program gives employee "free food at company-sponsored social events, gifts for participating in activities, or employee discounts, such as ski passes," investigators said.
In 2016, Corliss "devised a scheme" to get money from the program, the affidavit states. He then "concealed his scheme through fraudulent communications or omissions, including false invoices and entries in (ATK Launch System's) expense tracking software," according to investigators.
The supervisor who approved the reimbursement requests "routinely" did so "with little or no questioning because he deferred to Mr. Corliss' explanation of the expenses and Mr. Corliss' role and responsibilities within Club Hub," the affidavit states.
According to court documents, the company paid Corliss about $40,000 for season ski passes to Snowbasin Resort, which he later told investigators he never purchased.
In another instance, he submitted a legitimate receipt for car wash gift cards and was reimbursed for $400. He later changed the date on that receipt and submitted it again, the affidavit states.
Corliss also made a $7,000 corporate credit card payment to a car dealership and claimed that the money was used for a partnership between Club Hub and a nonprofit organization, according to the affidavit. However, Corliss later "admitted the payment was used to help him purchase a car for his wife," investigators wrote.
Other things Corliss allegedly purchased with the reimbursements included a vintage clock, a trip to Wendover and a taxidermist's services, according to the affidavit.
Early in 2017, investigators say, another employee "discovered a significant discrepancy in the Club Hub records related to the purchase of ski passes for employees" and reported it to the company's management.
Corliss was fired from ATK Launch Systems in May 2017, according to court documents.
