A 39-year-old accountant has been charged with forging more than 100 checks from his southern Minnesota employer's account and collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars during several years that he used to buy a lake home and pay bills.

Ronald L. Schaeffer, of Faribault, was charged Thursday in federal court in Minneapolis with bank fraud totaling $432,504 while he was the sole in-house accountant for Environmental Tillage Systems Inc. of Faribault.

Schaeffer was charged by what is called information, meaning he will plead guilty. "Mr. Schaeffer understands the seriousness of the allegations," said Jeremy Kaschinske, his attorney. "He does not intend to hide anything."

Prosecutors say he used the money to build a lake house in Elysian, Minn. He also is charged with using the money to make payments on home-equity and car loans.

PAUL WALSH