The former finance director of a Florida-based company has admitted to embezzling over $5.7 million from his employer. Paul Schnitzer, 51, from Clermont, Florida, pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges. U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin has set the sentencing date for May 6, 2025.
Schnitzer was initially charged in May 2024 and indicted by a grand jury in June of the same year. He was detained in October 2024 after breaching pretrial release conditions.
From January 2022 to May 2024, Schnitzer executed more than 100 transfers from his employer's operating bank account into an investment account he controlled. These were falsely labeled as "equity distributions." To cover up these actions, he falsified financial reports sent to the Massachusetts-based investment firm that owned the company. Additionally, Schnitzer secretly utilized a line of credit to restore funds in the company's operating account after misappropriating them.
The wire fraud charge carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine reaching $250,000 or twice the victim's loss. Sentences are determined by a federal district court judge according to U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and relevant statutes.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Boston Division announced this development today. Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Holcomb from the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is leading the prosecution.