Maine resident, Edward F. Ziegler II, has plead guilty to a 15-year embezzlement scheme including fraud and tax offenses before the U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley.

Per court documents, Ziegler was the office manager of a small family-owned business, identified in court documents in “Company A,” based in Berlin, CT. A bank account was opened by Ziegler in his own name around 2006. Over a 15 year period or so, he transferred approximately $1.8 million from more than 400 checks from Company A’s customers by depositing them into the bank account he created in 2006. In addition, he tried covering up diverted checks that he personally used by making fraudulent entries in Company A’s book and record keeping system.

Additionally, from tax years 2015 through 2019, Ziegler did not pay $173,003 in federal income taxes from the embezzled funds. He was arrested on March 16, 2022, with sentencing scheduled for February 3, and filed a guilty plea for one count wire fraud and one count of tax evasion.

For more information, read the full press release from the IRS: Maine resident pleads guilty to fraud and tax offenses stemming from $1.8 million embezzlement scheme