Former CFO Guilty of Embezzling Over $600,000

BOSTON—An Amesbury man was convicted today in federal court of embezzling over $600,000 from his former employer.

STEPHEN Z. HARVEY, JR., 42, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper to one count of mail fraud and one count of interstate transportation of stolen property.

At today’s plea hearing, the prosecutor told the court that had the case proceeded to trial, the government’s evidence would have proven that, beginning in September 2005 and continuing through November 2010, HARVEY, who was then acting as CFO of a company engaged in a specialized medical practice which is headquartered in Brighton, misappropriated the company’s monies by issuing company checks to himself and to third parties to whom he owed payment. HARVEY concealed his misappropriation by taking steps to cover up the identity of the checks’ payees on the company’s accounting system.

Judge Casper scheduled sentencing for September 13, 2011. HARVEY faces up to 20 years in prison on the mail fraud count and 10 years in prison on the interstate transportation of stolen property count, to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $1,270,121.40 fine on each count.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Division made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Vassili Thomadakis of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.