Former St. Louis County CFO Sentenced to 41 Months for $2 Million Embezzlement

The legal system has spoken in the case of Richard D. Zellner, the former CFO of a St. Louis County company, who will now spend 41 months behind bars for embezzling $2 million. Details from a

U.S. Department of Justice

release confirmed that Zellner was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp and is expected to repay the full stolen amount.

Spanning a five-year period between January 2019 and January 2024, Zellner used his employer’s bank accounts to make personal gains, notably by paying off his credit card balances after racking up charges that ran into thousands every few days or weeks. On vacations, travels, and purchases of gold and precious metals, the stolen money was spent. To hide his fraudulent activities, Zellner altered company records, creating fake work orders and bills, reported the

U.S. Attorney’s Office

.

Additionally, the company’s credit cards were not spared from Zellner’s personal use. Over the course of his elaborate scheme, more than 1,000 unauthorized transactions were made by Zellner, totaling about $2,062,051 in embezzled funds. At 66 years old, Zellner of O’Fallon, Missouri, faced the gravity of his actions as he waived grand jury indictment and pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in August before the U.S. District Court in St. Louis.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Maryland Heights Police Department spearheaded the investigation that led to Zellner’s downfall. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow took charge of prosecuting the case against Zellner.

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