A Minnesota man stole nearly $700,000 from his employer and spent the money on online gambling, according to federal charges.
Austen Henry Strom, 30, was indicted in U.S. District Court in Fargo last week on allegations of bank fraud in connection with the methodical theft of money from F-M Forklift from March 2024 until April of this year.
Strom, of Dilworth, is due in court on Dec. 16. His attorney declined Monday to respond to the allegations.
According to the indictment:
Strom worked for Fargo-based F-M Forklift for eight years, the last three to four as a bookkeeper.
He wrote checks from the company’s Bell Bank account to himself without authorization in amounts ranging from $1,250 to $29,611. He wrote out the checks by hand and forged the signature of one of the owners.
In April, bank officials detected the suspicious activity and alerted F-M Forklift. When the company’s three owners confronted him, he confessed to depositing nearly $700,000 into his personal account.
Strom said that “he spends the funds on online gambling,” the indictment read.
