Today a federal grand jury indicted Attorney David Smerling, 74, of Lexington, on three counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering.
Smerling worked as a bookkeeper for three Massachusetts companies. He allegedly used his job to embezzle over $2.5 million from his clients.
According to a press release from the U.S. District Attorney’s Office,
between January 2016 and May 2020, Smerling embezzled more than $2.5 million from the companies by transferring funds first to a bank account owned by one of the victims that Smerling controlled before moving the money to bank accounts in his own name, or directly from the companies’ accounts to bank accounts in his own name. The indictment also alleges that Smerling concealed his scheme by changing the mailing address on the victims’ bank statements to his home address and refusing to share the online banking password for the victims’ accounts. Â
If convicted, Smerling could face up to 20 years in federal prison.