Men Accused of Embezzling $1.4 Million from St. Louis County Restaurant

ST. LOUIS – Two men have been accused of embezzling more than $1.4 million from the restaurant that employed them for years.

Matthew Braasch and Mark Erney were each indicted on Feb. 20, 2025, with two counts of wire fraud. Erney turned himself in Friday and pleaded not guilty. Braasch did the same on February 25.

The indictment says both men were high-level employees of a restaurant in Grantwood Village, in St. Louis County, Missouri, and told company managers that they would only use company credit cards for necessary business expenses. They instead used them for personal purchases, it says. Braasch spent $81,965 at Target, over $31,000 at the Vineyard Vines clothing store, $39,634 at Amazon and over $10,000 on local hotel stays for an acquaintance, the indictment says. He also spent $1,600 on a golf outing, $2,460 to store his RV, $5,425 on St. Louis Cardinals tickets and $2,681 for a vacation at Disney World, the indictment says.

Erney spent $155,696 on personal expenses from Amazon, more than $37,000 at other local bars and restaurants, $5,600 for two couches and $3,943 at a supplier of men’s health products.

The indictment says that due to the embezzlement, the restaurant lacked money to buy food and pay state taxes, including liquor taxes, and Braasch and Erney took out loans to cover the shortfall. Braasch also posed as a restaurant manager when state investigators tried to collect back taxes to keep the real managers in the dark, the indictment says.

Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt.  Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The FBI, with assistance from the Missouri Department of Revenue, Criminal Tax Investigation Bureau, investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman is prosecuting the case.