A Beach Park man is facing federal charges for allegedly stealing more than $2 million in funds from a museum in Chicago over the span of 13 years while employed as a payroll manager.
Michael Maurello, 56, of Beach Park, was charged with two counts of wire fraud and two counts of bank fraud.
An indictment returned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago accuses Maurello of fraudulently obtaining the museum funds from 2007 to 2020.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Maurello listed himself as the payroll manager for The Art Institute of Chicago. He reported working there since 2000.
Maurello, who is no longer employed at the museum, caused the museum to deposit more than $2 million into his personal bank accounts, the indictment said.
He designated the payments in the payroll system as having been made to other employees or former employees, the indictment said.
The indictment said that the museum’s assistant controller asked Maurello in January 2020 about one of the payments.
Maurello falsely said that the transaction had been a test of the payroll system, according to the indictment.
Maurello allegedly edited and altered a report from the museum’s payroll system to conceal information about the misappropriated funds.
He did so by falsely changing the employees’ names and the dates and dollar amounts of the payments, the indictment said.
The case was investigated by the FBI.
Each count of bank fraud is punishable by up to 30 years in federal prison. Each count of wire fraud carries a maximum of 20 years.
An arraignment hearing in federal court in Chicago has not yet been scheduled.