Olympia man sentenced for $900K embezzlement fueling gambling addiction

A 48-year-old man from Olympia was sentenced on Thursday (September 11), in a US District Court in Tacoma to 18 months in prison for wire fraud connected to a large embezzlement scheme that supported his gambling addiction, according to Acting US Attorney Teal Luthy Miller.

Matthew Randall Ping admitted guilt in June 2025 to wire fraud and to filing a false tax return. Prosecutors said he stole nearly $900,000 from his former employer, the State of Washington, and spent much of it at casinos.

Olympia suspect’s ‘severe’ gambling addiction drove crime

During the sentencing, US District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright pointed out how central gambling was to the crime. “Your crime was very serious but was driven by severe addiction…. Gambling addiction can destroy the life of someone who is otherwise an upstanding citizen,” Judge Cartwright said.

Former Washington state employee sentenced to prison for embezzling nearly $900,000 – Manipulated credit card payment processing system and expense review system to steal from state agency https://t.co/dBQrjpMVNa

— WDWAnews (@WDWAnews) September 11, 2025

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dane Westermeyer, who had asked the court to impose a 33-month sentence, was direct about how Ping used the stolen money. “He used this stolen taxpayer money to fuel his gambling habit, fund at least six trips to Las Vegas, pay off a luxury vehicle loan, and otherwise support his lifestyle,” Westermeyer wrote in his sentencing memo.

He added, “And, perhaps not surprisingly, he failed to report any of the income from his theft on his federal tax returns, which resulted in a tax loss of nearly $250,000.”

In court, Ping admitted that he had tried to get help for his gambling problem but said there were few resources available. Judge Cartwright encouraged him to push for better services and stronger regulations to help others dealing with the same addiction once he is out of prison.

Court records show that Ping started working at the Washington State Office of Administrative Hearings in 2009. By 2017 he had become a Management Analyst and the department’s credit card custodian. Between 2019 and 2023, he set up fake vendor accounts that allowed him to divert $860,756 into his own accounts, and he also made $17,359 in personal purchases at Verizon and Walmart. Investigators said he carried out a total of 210 fraudulent transactions.

Largest insider embezzlement in Washington in 15 years

Acting US Attorney Miller described the theft as both historic in scale and damaging to the public’s trust. “This theft was not just the largest insider embezzlement from Washington State in the last 15 years, it also undermines trust in our state financial safeguards,” Miller said. “Mr. Ping not only cheated state taxpayers, he cheated on his federal taxes as well by failing to pay the income taxes he owed on ill-gotten gain.”

The scheme was first discovered by the Washington State Auditor’s Office, and Ping resigned in 2023 after it came to light. He has agreed to pay back $1,118,362 in restitution to the state, its insurance company, and the IRS.

After completing his 18-month prison term, Ping will spend three years on supervised release.

Featured image: Canva

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