Industry News
Payroll manager charged with stealing $2.8 million in mail fraud scheme
February 20, 2007
A former payroll manager for a Long Island, New York, company has been charged with stealing $2.8 million through a complex scheme involving the data processing of payroll accounts for unemployment insurance (UI) tax reporting. The charges center around mail fraud.
Allegedly, the defendant deliberately inflated his company's UI tax rates so that the third-party provider, who processes the company's UI tax work, would overpay the State's UI tax funds. The State would then refund the overpayment to the third-party provider, who would then remit the money back to the defendant's company. The defendant apparently convinced the third-party provider to issue the refund checks in his name, citing a new company policy regarding bank accounts. The defendant then deposited the checks into a personal account, informing the bank's branch manager that the checks were for bonuses and commissions.