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PLEASANT GROVE — An Alpine man hired to be the chief financial officer at several companies in Utah is now accused of taking about $1.5 million from them and spending it on trips, jewelry and his daughter's wedding.
Michael Eric Lee, 53, was charged Tuesday in 4th District Court with engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity, four counts of money laundering and five counts of theft, all second-degree felonies; and an additional count of theft, a class A misdemeanor.
According to charging documents, Lee became the chief financial officer at Alpine Technical Services in 2019 and agreed to provide similar services for about a half-dozen other entities owned by the person who owned that company. He worked out of Pleasant Grove.
"During the defendant's employment, no bonuses, dividends, personal loans, profit-sharing, long-term incentive programs or any other form of compensation besides his base pay specified in the hiring agreement were approved by the company's board," charging documents state.
"The defendant was given unlimited access to ATS, LLC's financial accounts, as well as the financial accounts for all the other businesses owned by ATS, LLC and (its owner). There are approximately 47 financial accounts for these businesses," the charges state. "Over time, the defendant also was given authority to access accounts and pay certain costs and expenses without receiving prior approval. It was with this access to the various accounts that the defendant used the company's financial accounts for personal use."
According to charging documents, Lee "used this money to pay for his and his families' purchases of movie tickets, fuel at gas stations, groceries, meals at restaurants, purchases at stores, furniture, jewelry, airline tickets, hotels, car rentals, multiple family vacations to Hawaii, California, Moab, New York, Wyoming and Idaho, a hot tub for his residence, paying for his daughter's wedding expenses and paying for his personal vehicle.
"The aggregate amount taken from ATS, LLC, and its related businesses total approximately $1.5 million," the charges state.
The alleged scheme was discovered in 2021 when a forensic accountant was hired to review all of the financial accounts of the businesses "to determine why they were losing money."
The accountant found "the businesses were financially sound, but there was a significant deficiency in the company's funds because the defendant utilized company funds for his personal use," the charges state.
