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BOUNTIFUL — A former Zions Bank manager who embezzled more than $500,000 from a customer so he could buy a house and then allegedly forged a letter to the judge in an attempt to get a more lenient sentence may be in trouble again — possibly for committing crimes against his own attorney.
Daniel Scott Frischknecht, 33, of Bountiful, pleaded guilty in February in federal court to transferring more than $500,000 from a customer's account to his own account.
He was scheduled to be sentenced in May. In preparation for that, several letters from family members and friends were submitted to Judge Dale Kimball asking for leniency.
But investigators said they discovered that one of those letters, purportedly written by a home warranty service that Frischknecht was working for praising him as an exemplary employee, was written by Frischknecht himself.
Because of the allegedly forged letter, he was charged in federal court June 13 with obstruction of justice by trying to influence the court, and identification fraud. In addition, sentencing for his embezzlement conviction was delayed.
On Aug. 13, prosecutors resolved both cases by dismissing the obstruction charge, but recommending additional time be added to the embezzlement conviction because of the forged letter.
Frischknecht was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release, court records state. He was allowed to remain free following sentencing but ordered to surrender to authorities by Oct. 5.
But according to federal prosecutors, there are now new allegations involving Frischknecht that have arisen since his release. Because of that, he was arrested by U.S. marshals and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail Wednesday night for violating the terms of his release.
During an appearance in federal court Friday, Frischknecht's attorney, Nathan Crane, said he and his staff now have a conflict representing their client, "as they may have been a victim of the new allegation," according to the court docket.
The docket does not say what the new allegation is, but a judge granted Crane's request to withdraw from the case. A new attorney was appointed for Frischknecht. The hearing was continued until Sept. 6.
Earlier, the court had recommended that Frischknecht serve his time at a federal facility in Montgomery, Alabama. He has already repaid $565,591 in restitution to the victim.
