A former employee of the State of Washington has admitted to wire fraud in a scheme that involved stealing nearly $900,000 from his employer. Matthew Randall Ping, 48, from Olympia, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller announced the plea.
Ping was employed by the Washington State Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) starting in 2009 and rose to the position of Management Analyst by 2017. He also served as the department’s credit card custodian. Between 2019 and 2023, Ping misused his access to credit cards to embezzle approximately $878,115 from OAH.
The court documents reveal that Ping set up accounts with payment processors under names resembling legitimate OAH vendors. From 2019 to 2021, he charged over $330,000 to OAH credit cards for payments supposedly made to these vendors but which were actually directed into accounts he controlled. In 2021, he continued his fraudulent activities through another payment processor account, embezzling an additional $530,000.
Ping circumvented detection measures by providing false transaction lists for review by colleagues and later adding fraudulent charges himself without oversight. His manipulation of accounting data further obscured his actions.
In total, Ping executed 210 fraudulent transactions resulting in a loss of $860,756 to the state and incurred improper charges totaling $17,359 on his state-issued credit card.
The theft was uncovered by the Washington State Auditor’s Office leading to Ping’s resignation in 2023. Additionally, he failed to report these stolen funds on tax returns from 2020-2023 causing a tax loss of $240,247. Ping has agreed to pay restitution both to the state and for his tax liabilities.
The investigation involved collaboration between the FBI and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), alongside assistance from the Auditor’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Dane A. Westermeyer is prosecuting the case.
Ping is scheduled for sentencing before U.S. District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright on September 9, 2025.
