Paul Piper was sentenced to 63 months in prison for bank fraud and filing a false tax return after embezzling more than 1.7 million dollars from the Lake Michigan Car Ferry, where he was employed as the company’s controller.
Piper stole the funds between 2007 and 2018. He wrote checks directly to himself and to two businesses he owned, Piper Tax and Accounting and Piper Group. He forged the signatures of company owners or used a signature stamp without permission and hid the transactions by attributing them to an insurance expense code or by making false entries.
Piper was ordered to pay restitution to the Lake Michigan Car Ferry, which operates between Luddington, Michigan and Manitowok, Wisconsin, in the amount of $1,740,037.91. Prior to his conviction he had already forfeited a 2018 Ford Ram Truck, a 2008 Glacier Bay recreational vehicle and cash.