Ex-employees accused of $1.4M embezzlement from St. Louis County restaurant

ST. LOUIS — Two former employees of a St. Louis County restaurant are accused of embezzling $1.4 million after allegedly using company credit cards for personal purchases, including a trip to Disney World.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Missouri, Matthew Braasch and Mark Erney, ages not provided, both pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud in February.

The indictment said both men were high-level employees at a restaurant in Grantwood Village and told company managers they would only company credit cards for business expenses.

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Allegedly, Braasch had used the company credits on the following personal purchases:

• $31,000 at Vinyard Vines clothing store

• $10,000 on local hotel stays for an acquaintance

• $5,425 on St. Louis Cardinals tickets

• $2,681 for a vacation at Disney World

Erney allegedly spent company funds on the following:

• $37,000 at local bars and restaurants

• $4,943 on men’s health products

According to the indictment, the restaurant lacked money to buy food and pay state taxes, including liquor taxes, due to the embezzlement, so Braasch and Erney took out loans to cover the cost.

Braasch allegedly posed as a restaurant manager to keep real managers in the dark when state investigators tried to collect back taxes.

Braasch and Erney were indicted on Feb. 20 with two counts of wire fraud. Erny turned himself in last Friday and pleaded not guilty, and Braasch did the same on Feb. 25.

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