Source: Office of United States Attorneys
BOSTON – A Florida man has been arrested and charged for allegedly embezzling approximately $4 million from his employer, a Florida-based portfolio company owned by a Massachusetts investment firm.
Paul Schnitzer, 51, of Clermont, Fla., was charged with one count of wire fraud. Schnitzer was arrested this morning and will make an initial appearance in the Middle District of Florida tomorrow. He will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
According to the charging document, Schnitzer worked as the finance director for the portfolio company. It is alleged that between January 2023 and May 2024, Schnitzer made over 90 transfers, each of tens of thousands of dollars disguised as “equity distributions,” from the company’s operating account into his personal account. To hide these transfers, Schnitzer allegedly provided falsified financial reports with inflated cash balances for the company to the investment firm. It is also alleged that Schnitzer secretly used a line of credit to replenish the company’s operating account after he had stolen it.
The charge of wire fraud provides a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Holcomb of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.