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CHICAGO - A former payroll manager at The Art Institute of Chicago is facing federal charges for allegedly stealing more than $2 million from the museum.
An indictment accuses Michael Maurello of fraudulently obtaining museum funds between 2007 and 2020. He allegedly deposited money into his personal bank account by designating funds from the payroll system.
The Art Institute says the theft was discovered after the museum began a review of financial control procedures in 2019, which led to the discovery of unusual account activity.
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Maurello was terminated, and the matter was then referred to law enforcement.
The museum released the following statement to FOX 32:
"In 2019, the Art Institute of Chicago began a review of our financial control procedures, which led to the discovery of unusual account activity. We immediately launched an internal investigation and discovered a now former employee fraudulently authorized a number of payments from Art Institute accounts to his personal bank accounts, disguising them as payments to former employees. This individual’s employment was terminated for cause and the matter was immediately referred to law enforcement. After an investigation, the Department of Justice has filed criminal charges against the former employee.
This individual stole in excess of $2 million from the organization over the course of approximately a decade. The cumulative loss was significant, but because of the length of time and manner in which it was taken, it did not impact decisions around staffing, payroll, scholarship funding, programming, or other financial aspects of the organization. We have implemented additional controls and procedures to help detect and prevent any future malfeasance and are recovering funds through insurance."
Maurello, 56, of Beach Park, has been charged with two counts of wire fraud and two counts of bank fraud. Arraignment in federal court in Chicago has not yet been scheduled.