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Maryland Man Sentenced In Miss. Tire Swindle

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- A Maryland businessman has been ordered to pay back $6.89 million and serve 40 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in an embezzlement scheme.

Sanjeet "Sonny" Veen, 47, of Potomac, Md., pleaded guilty last year to defrauding Dunlap & Kyle Co., a Batesville, Miss., firm that operates 54 locations of Gateway Tire and Service Center in seven states. In sentencing Thursday, Senior U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson also ordered Veen to serve three years of supervised release after the prison term.

Dunlap & Kyle paid Veen to import tires, but Veen faked invoices and blamed foreign manufacturers when no tires arrived.

Veen's company was also involved in 2010 in a Maryland federal civil suit over tire importing.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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