The Waterloo man who embezzled almost a quarter-of-a-million dollars from the Yates County winery he worked at received his punishment in U.S. District Court on Thursday. Michael Stein was sentenced to 27 months in prison for stealing $228,573.31 from the former BellAngelo Wineries in Dundee while employed as their office manager and bookkeeper.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard A. Resnick, who handled the case, stated that in July 2018, Stein was hired as the Office Manager/Bookkeeper at BellAngelo Wineries in Dundee. While employed at BellAngelo, he embezzled from the winery through miscellaneous payroll methods. These included: receiving unauthorized bi-weekly mileage reimbursements, receiving unauthorized reimbursement for medical premiums, receiving unauthorized miscellaneous expense reimbursements, receiving unauthorized payments of petty cash, and making unauthorized ATM withdrawals.
In addition to prison time, the 43-year-old was ordered to pay full restitution.
