Bath Man Sentenced for Defrauding Employer of Over $2.7 Million and Related Offenses

PORTLAND, Maine: A Bath man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Portland for wire fraud, money laundering, transferring property to prevent seizure, and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee announced.   

U.S. District Judge D. Brock Hornby sentenced David Altenburg, 46, to ten years in prison followed by 18 months of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $2,807,080 in restitution to victims of the offenses. He pleaded guilty on June 24, 2021.

According to court records, between February 2019 and September 2020, Altenburg used his access to his employer’s financial accounts to conduct approximately 106 wire transfers and other withdrawals. To execute his scheme, he fraudulently used the name and email address of a firm director to purportedly authorize certain transfers. In total, he diverted more than $2.7 million to accounts under his control. He used the diverted monies to fund travel; pay down his mortgage; and purchase luxury vehicles, jewelry, clothing, and other items. After learning he was under investigation, he transferred title of his residence to a trust managed by his wife in an effort to prevent its seizure.

Prior to entering his guilty plea, Altenburg opened an online bank account. Despite agreeing to surrender all proceeds of his criminal conduct, he funded this account through the sale of criminally derived property. He then spent money on visits to resorts in Maine and New Hampshire and other non-essential items. This conduct resulted in his loss of credit for accepting responsibility for the offenses.

The FBI investigated this case with assistance from the Bath Police Department.

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