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A Connecticut man has been indicted on fraud and tax charges after allegedly defrauding his former employer, Mars, Inc., out of millions of dollars.
A federal grand jury in New Haven returned a nine-count indictment on Tuesday charging Paul R. Steed, 58, of Stamford, with seven counts of wire fraud and two counts of tax evasion for allegedly failing to report and pay taxes on his stolen income, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Steed was arrested on Wednesday and pleaded not guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Dave Vatti in Bridgeport, federal officials said.
The indictment alleges that, between 2011 and 2023, Steed was employed by Mars Wrigley, a subsidiary of Mars. Inc., and was working remotely from his home in Stamford. Steed served as Global Price Risk Manager for Mars Wrigley’s Global Cocoa Enterprise and was responsible for managing its participation in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Sugar-Containing Products Re-Export Program, according to court records.
“In approximately 2016, Steed created a company, MCNA LLC, to mimic an actual Mars entity, Mars Chocolate North America,” court records allege. “He then diverted millions of dollars in Mars assets to a bank account he set up in MCNA’s name by directing sugar refineries purchasing Mars’s re-export credits, obtained through the USDA program, to pay MCNA LLC as if it were a legitimate Mars entity.
“The indictment also alleges that Mars had an ownership interest in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc., a financial services company that operated financial exchanges and clearing houses and received quarterly dividends in connection with that ownership,” according to court records. “In 2017, Steed directed Computershare Limited, a company that ICE utilized for stock-related services, to pay MCNA LLC for Mars’s dividends from its ownership shares in ICE. As a result, more than $700,000 in dividend payments were diverted to the MCNA LLC account.”
The indictment also alleges that after Steed used a fraudulent letter purportedly from the Mars treasurer to authorize him to trade ICE shares in 2023, he directed Computershare to sell all of Mars’ ICE shares. “Computershare issued a check in the amount of more than $11.3 million, which Steed deposited into the MCNA LLC account,” federal officials allege.
The indictment also alleges that, from 2013 through 2020, Steed used a company he created called Ibera LLC to invoice Mars for services Mars did not receive. “Mars paid Ibera LLC approximately $580,000 through this scheme,” according to federal officials.
In total, Steed is alleged to have stolen more than $28 million from Mars, federal officials said. More than $18 million was seized on Wednesday for forfeiture, and the government “is seeking to forfeit a Greenwich home that Steed is alleged to have purchased with nearly $2.3 million in stolen funds. It is alleged that another $2 million was sent by Steed to Argentina, where he is a dual citizen, has family ties, and owns a ranch.”
