Man accused of swindling thousands from company he helped found

Man accused of swindling money from company he helped found

Man accused of swindling money from company he helped found

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- He was a friend and a colleague -- in fact, a founder of the company, and he ended up a thief!

"The foundation of this business was built on trust," U.S. Postal Inspector Tammy Mayle said.

It was an environmental engineering company specializing in hazardous materials cleanup.

"They worked at previous companies together. They started a business together. They trusted each other," Mayle said.

But $800,000 went missing, and one of the company's founders was the culprit.

"He used the money to build a house in a very nice community and do very extravagant upgrades to the house," Mayle said.

The house included a $100,000 geothermal system, a $30,000 driveway and an expensive wine cellar.

"Everything he got for his house was top of the line," Mayle said.

And the company paid.

"In our case, there was money sitting there for the taking, and the one individual felt he could help himself to it," the fraud victim said.

"He claimed on expense reports that his expenses were job-code related, when in fact, all those expenses went to fund the cost of his new home," Mayle said.

The problem: The company had no checks and balances.

"He was putting in his expense reports and also approving the expense reports," Mayle said.

And others suffered because of it.

"I didn't come to work every day thinking someone who was a friend and business partner would be stealing from us and would put his three business partners and their families losing everything," the fraud victim said.

Some advice from FOX6's Contact 6: If you own a business, small or big, have an outside company come in every year to audit your books to make sure all expenses are legitimate. The company executive in this case was convicted of mail fraud.