A Scottsdale business executive has been indicted on federal charges accusing him of stealing more than $2.4 million from employee benefit plans and laundering the money through personal expenses, according to the Justice Department.
Court records identify the defendant as James Vincent Campbell, 47, the CEO and founder of Axim Fringe Solutions Group, LLC (Axim), a benefits processing company that previously operated in Maryland. Prosecutors allege that between 2015 and 2024, Campbell siphoned funds intended for employee health insurance premiums and 401(k) contributions.
Axim’s clients were federal contractors that paid the company to handle employee benefits. Instead of forwarding the money in full, Campbell allegedly pooled client payments into a master trust account and made 135 unauthorized withdrawals totaling nearly $2.5 million.
Investigators say Campbell spent the diverted funds on big-game hunting trips in Alaska and Africa, luxury jewelry, casino gambling, taxidermy services, and personal payments to a girlfriend.
The indictment charges Campbell with one count of theft from an ERISA plan and 11 counts of money laundering. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison per money laundering charge and five years for the theft count.
The case is being investigated by the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration and the U.S. Marshals Service, with prosecutors from the Justice Department’s Criminal Division leading the case.
