A North Huntingdon man pleaded guilty this month in West Virginia federal court to stealing $3.5 million from a construction company he managed.
A court date has not been set for Michael D. Allen, 60, to be sentenced on wire fraud and money laundering charges.
Information filed Oct. 3 in the North District of West Virginia Federal Court showed that Allen had worked for Morgantown-based ABB Construction, which later became Accelerated Construction Services, a commercial building construction company, since 2011.
A bank account with his name on it, that purported to be a company account, was used to receive wire transfers and check payments from Accelerated customers between 2014 and 2020, according to the court filing and plea agreement.
One of those transfers in 2018 was worth $587,000 and came from the Snowshoe, W.Va. area, federal investigators said. Money from the account was used to purchase a 5 carat diamond ring from a Pittsburgh-area jeweler. The ring cost $113,000 and was shipped to Allen in Morgantown, authorities said.
Allen opted to plead guilty Nov. 7 without having the case presented to a grand jury, according to court filings. He is subject to forfeiture allegations, though federal prosecutors did not list any property they intend to seize in court papers.
The plea agreement calls for Allen to make restitution and pay a monetary judgement. He faces a sentence of up to 30 years in a federal prison.
