An employee returns from lunch at Amazon’s Fulfillment Center on March 19, 2019, in Thornton. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)
A local Amazon delivery firm claims that it was “infiltrated” by two embezzlers who cooked its books, ran off with six figures in company cash, and threatened its future survival.
Dracarys Fleet, which operates 55 vehicles out of Amazon’s warehouse at 875 W. 64th Ave., says that it was recently forced to take out a high-interest loan just to make payroll.
“Farra Shaw has caused Dracarys to suffer hundreds of thousands of dollars in financial harm,” Dracarys claimed in a lawsuit it filed against that former general manager on July 3.
Dracarys was founded in 2019 by Grant Gassaway, its owner and a friend of Shaw’s from their time operating Spirit Halloween stores in the 2000s. When Shaw went bankrupt in 2020, Gassaway invited her to work for Dracarys, according to that firm’s lawsuit.
“At the time, the business was performing well,” the company says in its complaint. Dracarys took in $3.3 million of revenue in 2021 and had modest net profits of $133,000.
Dracarys says that it paid Shaw well — $166,000 per year plus 10 percent of annual profits — and allowed her to hire a longtime friend, Traci Valentine, to be the company’s bookkeeper. With Shaw and Valentine managing Dracarys, Gassaway was encouraged to step away.
“Don’t worry about it, our numbers are great,” Shaw told him at one point, he recalls.
“Just go play golf, I’ve got your company,” she reportedly said to Gassaway another time.
But the numbers were not great. Though revenue rose to $3.5 million in 2022 and $3.7 million in 2023, expenses were skyrocketing at Dracarys, leading to $300,000 in losses by 2023.
Meanwhile, Shaw wanted more money, according to the lawsuit. In 2023, she threatened to quit if she was not given $70,000 from an IRS refund. In 2024, she threatened to quit if she was not given a $40,000 bonus. In both cases, Gassaway paid up, according to the lawsuit.
Farra Shaw. (LinkedIn)
“Well on its way to a third straight year of significant net income loss, Dracarys had little cash on hand to make such a payment,” it says of the $40,000. “Yet, under the circumstances, Dracarys could little afford to not make the payment to Shaw,” it adds, without explaining why.
Shaw and Valentine resigned abruptly and without warning in October, according to Dracarys. When Shaw demanded another $28,750 on the way out, Gassaway ordered a forensic audit of his company to determine if she was owed that. The audit was revealing, he says.
Shaw and Valentine “infiltrated the company and cooked its financial books and records, and in the process provided the cover that Shaw needed to steal,” according to the lawsuit. By lying about the company’s finances, Shaw took $100,000 in profit-sharing bonuses she did not deserve and borrowed another $70,000 from the company that she did not repay, it claims.
The company is suing its former general manager and former bookkeeper in Denver’s federal court for theft, fraud, conspiracy, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. Its lawyers are Maxwell Shaffer, Thomas Leland and Kensye Wood with Leland Shaffer in Denver.
Shaw, who lives in Monroe, La., did not answer BusinessDen’s requests for comment on the case. Attempts to contact Valentine, who also lives in Louisiana, were unsuccessful.
An employee returns from lunch at Amazon’s Fulfillment Center on March 19, 2019, in Thornton. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)
A local Amazon delivery firm claims that it was “infiltrated” by two embezzlers who cooked its books, ran off with six figures in company cash, and threatened its future survival.
Dracarys Fleet, which operates 55 vehicles out of Amazon’s warehouse at 875 W. 64th Ave., says that it was recently forced to take out a high-interest loan just to make payroll.
“Farra Shaw has caused Dracarys to suffer hundreds of thousands of dollars in financial harm,” Dracarys claimed in a lawsuit it filed against that former general manager on July 3.
Dracarys was founded in 2019 by Grant Gassaway, its owner and a friend of Shaw’s from their time operating Spirit Halloween stores in the 2000s. When Shaw went bankrupt in 2020, Gassaway invited her to work for Dracarys, according to that firm’s lawsuit.
“At the time, the business was performing well,” the company says in its complaint. Dracarys took in $3.3 million of revenue in 2021 and had modest net profits of $133,000.
Dracarys says that it paid Shaw well — $166,000 per year plus 10 percent of annual profits — and allowed her to hire a longtime friend, Traci Valentine, to be the company’s bookkeeper. With Shaw and Valentine managing Dracarys, Gassaway was encouraged to step away.
“Don’t worry about it, our numbers are great,” Shaw told him at one point, he recalls.
“Just go play golf, I’ve got your company,” she reportedly said to Gassaway another time.
But the numbers were not great. Though revenue rose to $3.5 million in 2022 and $3.7 million in 2023, expenses were skyrocketing at Dracarys, leading to $300,000 in losses by 2023.
Meanwhile, Shaw wanted more money, according to the lawsuit. In 2023, she threatened to quit if she was not given $70,000 from an IRS refund. In 2024, she threatened to quit if she was not given a $40,000 bonus. In both cases, Gassaway paid up, according to the lawsuit.
Farra Shaw. (LinkedIn)
“Well on its way to a third straight year of significant net income loss, Dracarys had little cash on hand to make such a payment,” it says of the $40,000. “Yet, under the circumstances, Dracarys could little afford to not make the payment to Shaw,” it adds, without explaining why.
Shaw and Valentine resigned abruptly and without warning in October, according to Dracarys. When Shaw demanded another $28,750 on the way out, Gassaway ordered a forensic audit of his company to determine if she was owed that. The audit was revealing, he says.
Shaw and Valentine “infiltrated the company and cooked its financial books and records, and in the process provided the cover that Shaw needed to steal,” according to the lawsuit. By lying about the company’s finances, Shaw took $100,000 in profit-sharing bonuses she did not deserve and borrowed another $70,000 from the company that she did not repay, it claims.
The company is suing its former general manager and former bookkeeper in Denver’s federal court for theft, fraud, conspiracy, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. Its lawyers are Maxwell Shaffer, Thomas Leland and Kensye Wood with Leland Shaffer in Denver.
Shaw, who lives in Monroe, La., did not answer BusinessDen’s requests for comment on the case. Attempts to contact Valentine, who also lives in Louisiana, were unsuccessful.
