Feds: Norwalk man embezzeled $1M-plus

NORWALK, Conn. – A Norwalk man was arrested Thursday on a federal criminal complaint charging him with wire fraud, a press release said.

Thomas Turey, 63, embezzled more than $1.2 million from a Stamford market research company, where he worked as controller, a release from David Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Kimberly Mertz, special agent in charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said.

Turey surrendered himself Thursday to the FBI in Bridgeport, the press release said. He appeared before United States Magistrate Judge William I. Garfinkel in Bridgeport and was released on a $300,000 bond.

The charge of wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.

Turey worked at the company from 1995 until just a few weeks ago, the release said. As controller, his

responsibilities included aggregating the company’s monthly revenue and expense results, managing the company’s accounts receivable, performing financial analysis and reporting, and overseeing the company’s bookkeeper. He was also responsible for the company’s general ledger and was in charge of conducting the company’s bank reconciliations.

Between 2010 and 2012, Turey wrote approximately 100 checks to himself from his employer’s principal operating account and deposited the checks into his personal bank account, the press release said. The majority of the embezzled funds were subsequently transferred into Turey’s online brokerage account. The total value of the checks was about $1.2 million, the release said.

Turey has embezzled additional funds from the company, the press release said.  The FBI investigation is ongoing.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Paul A. Murphy.

U.S. Attorney Fein stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.