Cold Spring Brewery // Photo via hmarch.com
A former Cold Spring Brewing controller was indicted this week on charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft stemming from an alleged scheme that bilked more than $350,000 from the brewery, and $330,000 from investors in a separate Ponzi scheme, the Star Tribune reports.
According to the charges, Adam Jonathan Martin, 35, of St. Cloud, started at Cold Spring as a financial analyst in 2007 and was controller of the brewery from November 2009 through November 2014. An unauthorized wire transfer of $243,627 from the brewery’s account to an E-trade business brokerage account account Martin set up under the name DCI Change, which listed a sister-in-law as director and primary trader on the account, triggered the investigation that resulted in the charges.
The government alleges that Martin used the brewery’s money for personal expenses, including a $106,000 down payment on a new home in Sartell, and $78,000 worth of personal expenses, including a vacation, furniture and clothing. The investigation, which was conducted by the FBI, also found that Martin had allegedly stolen $30,000 in cash from the brewery.
The indictment also alleges that Martin conned friends, relatives, and acquaintances out of more than $330,000, claiming that he would use their money to conduct “day trading,” invest in individual retirement accounts, or to provide a short-term bridge loan in a business purchase, the Star Tribune reports.
“In reality, Martin intended to and did use almost all of the invested funds for his personal use, to pay personal expenses and debts, and to make Ponzi-type payments to prior investors,” the indictment says.
Martin pleaded not guilty to a similar indictment handed down in May that has now be superseded by this week’s charges.
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