Regional Controller of Massachusetts-Based Corporation Sentenced for Stealing Over $1 Million from Employer

BOSTON – The regional controller of a multi-state corporation was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Worcester today in connection with a scheme to defraud over $1 million from his employer.

Michael Catlow, 51, of Seekonk, Mass., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman to 30 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $1,018,624 in restitution and forfeiture.  In January 2015, Catlow pleaded guilty to four counts of mail fraud.

From 2004 until 2013, Catlow served as the regional controller for a large multi-state corporation based in Westborough, Mass.  In that capacity, he was authorized to sign checks for its corporate accounts in amounts up to $10,000.  From February 2008 through May 2013, Catlow used the authority granted to him by his employer to write checks upon, and make withdrawals from, the company’s accounts to pay his own personal expenses.  These frauds paid for luxury box season tickets to the Patriots, travel, vacation homes, personal credit cards, and expenses for a business operated by Catlow’s former spouse.

When the fraud was discovered in May 2013, Catlow confessed, first to his employer, then in a video recorded confession to law enforcement officers.  Over the course of five years and hundreds of fraudulent transactions, Catlow’s embezzlement netted him $1,018,612.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Lisa A. Quinn, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service; and Westborough Police Chief Al Gordon, made the announcement today.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Grady of Ortiz’s Worcester Branch Office.