Former Non-Profit IT Director Sentenced to Federal Prison for Nearly $550,000 Theft

INDIANAPOLIS- Michael Meenan, 60, of Indianapolis, has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to wire fraud. He was also ordered to pay $543,521 in restitution.

According to court documents, Meenan served as the Director of Information Services for an Indianapolis-based non-profit organization from 1999 to 2021. In that role, he was responsible for purchasing technology equipment using an employee credit card.

Starting as early as July 2007, Meenan abused his position of trust by making personal purchases with his company-issued credit card. These unauthorized purchases included DSLR cameras, lenses, Apple and Southwest Airlines gift cards, cycling equipment, and Amazon gift card balance reloads. He then used the reloaded balances to acquire additional photography and cycling items for his personal use. Meenan even posted photos of some of these items on social media.

To hide the fraudulent transactions from management and accounts payable staff, Meenan created doctored receipts that falsely described the personal items as legitimate technology purchases. For example, he altered a receipt to indicate he had bought $1,100 worth of "Uninterruptible Power Supply Units (UPS)" for the organization, when in reality he had simply reloaded an Amazon gift card with that amount.

In total, Meenan executed approximately 1,173 unauthorized transactions using his employee credit card, resulting in a financial loss of $543,521.13 to the organization.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Indianapolis Field Office investigated this case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge James P. Hanlon.

"Nonprofits are especially vulnerable to fraud because they often lack the resources to prevent or recover from financial losses. The defendant, a trusted employee for more than 20 years, stole money meant to support the organization's mission and betrayed colleagues who had relied on him for decades," said Tom Wheeler, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. "Our SDIN Fraud Task Force-comprising federal prosecutors, special agents, forensic accountants, analysts, and others-is firmly committed to combating fraud and abuse in all forms."

"When individuals entrusted with access to an organization's resources use that position for personal gain, they undermine the trust placed in them and harm the people and communities those organizations serve," said FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. O'Malley. "The FBI is committed to investigating financial crimes and holding accountable those who abuse their positions for their own benefit."

U.S. Attorney Wheeler thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Wood, who prosecuted this case.

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