Paul Andrew Gniadek, 49, of Wildwood has been sentenced to 14 months in prison and ordered to repay $98,555.04 he stole from Volpi Foods in the Hill neighborhood in St. Louis, according to court records.
Gniadek, a certified public accountant, was the senior controller for Volpi Foods from Feb. 1, 1999, through March 26, 2019. He stole money from the company from about March 2015 through April 2019, court documents said.
He was sentenced Jan. 15 by Judge John A. Ross of the U.S. District Court in St. Louis, after pleading guilty in September to three counts of mail fraud, according to court papers.
On at least five occasions, Gniadek transferred funds from Volpi Foods’ Wells Fargo bank account to his E-Trade checking account. He used the money to pay for daily living expenses, pay down a Rocket Loans personal loan, purchase items from stores such as Best Buy and pay credit card bills, court records said.
At least nine times, Gniadek purchased gift cards for himself with company money through an employee gift card incentive program. The gift cards he bought were for amounts between $1,500 and $2,500, according to court documents.
He also used a company credit card issued to himself and another one issued to a former employee to make at least 37 unauthorized transactions to buy personal items or cover personal expenses, court records said.
Gniadek had retailers ship items to his home on Crown Pointe Estates Court in Wildwood to hide the scheme, and he altered financial records to cover up his crime, according to court documents.