By Aisha Mahmoud

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An Olympia resident was handed an 18-month prison term for committing wire fraud and seriously undermining public trust, as he embezzled almost $900,000 from the State of Washington, U.S. District Court in Tacoma revealed. The 48-year-old former state employee, Matthew Randall Ping, had pled guilty to the charges in June 2025, and his sentence was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. U.S. District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright, addressing Ping during the sentencing, acknowledged the gravity of his offenses, stating, “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,” according to information obtained by the Justice Department.

During his time as a Management Analyst and the department’s credit card custodian for the Washington State Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH), Ping began devising his fraudulent scheme in 2019 and continued it until 2023, reports show. He manipulated vendor accounts and exploited state-issued credit cards, leading to the theft of $878,115. Ping managed to cover up his tracks by providing his co-workers with misleading transaction lists and approving his own fraudulent payments, thereby dodging mandatory supervision. As further outlined by Acting U.S. Attorney Miller in the Justice Department, Ping was involved in “the largest insider embezzlement from Washington State in the last 15 years” and exacerbated his crime by also cheating on his federal taxes.

Assistant United States Attorney Dane Westermeyer, pressing for a 33-month sentence, highlighted Ping’s misappropriation of funds, including his extensive gambling activities, which involved trips to Las Vegas and payments for high-end items. “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. 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,” Westermeyer wrote in his sentencing memo to the Justice Department.

Ping addressed the court, expressing his attempts to overcome his gambling addiction and the shortage of resources for assistance. Post-sentence, Ping will face three years of supervised release, and Judge Cartwright urged him to take an active role advocating for services aiding those struggling with gambling addiction. Ping has consented to pay full restitution, a total of $1,118,362, to cover the stolen state funds, insurance claims, and his due taxes. The embezzlement came to light thanks to the Washington State Auditor’s Office and was subsequently investigated by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) with assistance from the Auditor’s Office.