A fired top executive for a Rochester snack foods manufacturer has been charged with making more than $600,000 in charges on company credit cards for travel and other personal purchases.

Thomas J. Wiechmann, 55, of Austin, Minn., was charged this week in Olmsted County District Court with four counts of theft by swindle from 2013-19 while he was the chief financial officer for Reichel Foods.

Wiechmann was charged by summons and ordered to appear in court Oct. 27. Court records did not list an attorney for him. Messages left for Wiechmann on Friday were not returned.

Wiechmann is charged with making hundreds of charges totaling $603,172.96.

"Hardly a day went by," the charges read, "without unauthorized credit card charges [on] Wiechmann's company credit cards."

Wiechmann allegedly used the cards for hotels, airline tickets, meals, entertainment, a custom alarm service, credit reports and purchases from Fleet Farm, Menards, Lowe's, Sam's Club, Costco and Hy-Vee.

The fraudulent charges were most plentiful in 2017 and 2018, with more than $300,000 being misappropriated over those two years, according to the criminal complaint.

"Wiechmann ... occupied a special position of trust in the company," the charges read.

He was fired after nearly 24 years with the Reichel Foods company on March 18, the complaint continued, "after it was discovered that he had been abusing his position of trust and violating his fiduciary duty."

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482