Minnesota Man Indicted For Allegedly Embezzling $642K From Employee Benefit Plan

Delroy Joseph Sand, Jr., 62, of New Prague, Minnesota, has been indicted on charges he embezzled $642,166 from the employee benefits plan of Hecla, Inc., a group home business he owned. Specifically, the three count indictment against Sand includes one count of embezzlement and theft from an employee benefit plan, and one count of failure to file a required report, and one count of obstruction of agency proceedings. The indictment alleges that from February 2008 to September 2009, Sand misappropriated the funds from the company's employee's retirement savings plans. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted, plus restitution. Research reveals that Sand has been embroiled in additional criminal controversy, living a double or triple life and defrauding supposed family members.

Read the story here and here.

Read the story about Delroy Sand's double life here.

Update (9/10/11): Sand, now 63, was sentenced to 41 months in prison. 

Former Union Financial Secretary In Florida To Plead Guilty In $1.2 Million Embezzlement Case

Carolyn Sue Alderman-Connon, 45, of Palm Coast, Florida is expected to plead guilty to charges she embezzled more than $1.2 million from the Southeast Area Joint Apprenticeship Program of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders and Blacksmith Builders, where she had been employed as a financial secretary. According to prosecutors, Alderman-Connon "routinely, and without permission or authorization" transferred funds to accounts she could then write checks from to herself or fictitious payees. It is unclear how long the scheme lasted. Specifically, she plead guilty to two counts of embezzlement from an employee benefit plan and faces up to five years in prison for each count.

Read the story here.

Update (3/25/11): Alderman-Connon, now 46, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for embezzling $1.28 million from a union apprenticeship program.

Connecticut Insurance Exec Pleads Guilty To Misappropriating $1 Million From Clients

Michael L. Millman, 63, of Fairfield, Connecticut, pleaded guilty this week to charges he embezzled more than $1 million in insurance premiums from his clients of two firms he owned, Nutmeg Benefits Group and Nutmeg Welfare Benefit Plan and Trust. Specifically, Millman plead guilty to bank fraud, wire fraud, and embezzlement and theft from an employee pension or welfare benefit plan. Authorities alleged that between June 2005 and last December, Millman misappropriated $655,893 by failing to send insurance premiums to the companies underwriting the policies, diverting proceeds from policies to his own use and taking loans on policies. He also defrauded Essex Savings Bank out of $344,516, which served as the trustee of the plans. Millman faces up to 78 months in prison, plus fines and restitution.

Read the story here, here and here.

Update (3/24/11): Millman, now 64, and residing in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, was sentenced to 63 months in prison and ordered to pay full restitution.

Former Benefits Manager For New York Union Charged With Embezzling $42 Million

Melissa G. King, 58, of Irvington, New York, has been arrested and charged with embezzling at least $42 million from the Sandhogs’ Union Local 147 in New York City where she had been employed as employee benefits fund administrator. Specifically, King has been charged with one count of theft and embezzlement in connection with employee benefit plans, and 11 counts of money laundering. King's scheme reportedly lasted for six years, between 2002 and 2008. King's alleged thefts reportedly went to pay for numerous luxury items and personal expenses, including: $7 million paid to American Express; $5 million to pay for horses and horse-related expenses; $500,000 paid to Neiman Marcus, primarily for women’s clothes; nearly $1 million to Lugano Diamonds in Newport Beach, California, for jewelry and watches; over $150,000 to the Ritz Carlton in Palm Beach; over $9000 to pay the mortgage on her Irvington home; hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for three housekeepers, a tutor for her children, and payments to her parents and others; nearly $100,000 for approximately 13 hours of flight time on a private jet; over $300,000 to purchase a 2005 Porsche Cayenne, a 2008 Mercedes-Benz S Class, a 2008 Mercedes-Benz CLK, and a 2008 Range Rover; and over $11 million to other bank accounts held by her benefits management company, King Care, LLC. King was removed from her position in December 2008 and a civil suit was filed against her in June 2009. Her arrest was made on November 30, 2009. Until recently, the case has not received much media attention. King faces up to 115 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

Read the story here, here, here, here and here.
Read the indictment here.

Wow. I didn't think it was possible to beat the Koss embezzlement, but this one does.

Update (6/21/12): King, now 61, pleaded guilty last year to filing false tax returns and admitting she embezzled about $7 million, was sentenced to just 6 years in prison.