Florida man faces grand theft charges for stealing up to $1 million from employer, detectives say

A man is facing grand theft charges after detectives say he stole between $800,000 and $1 million from his employer over several years.

Christopher Mcgowan, 51, was arrested by detectives with the Largo Police Department after an investigation revealed he stole money from Clearwater-based company Business Card Express for at least seven years, police said.

Mcgowan began working as the comptroller for the company in 2002 and is said to have stolen around $800,000 between November 2010 and October 2017, according to detectives.

Police say Mcgowan took the money through various means, including fraudulently opening an American Express card and paying it with funds from the company business account. Mcgowan also changed the payroll deductions from his own check, police say, amounting to another $4,400 additional loss to the company.

There is also indication, detectives say, that Mcgowan stole as much as $200,000 more between 2007 and 2010, but police are still working to obtain records for that time period.

Mcgowan made a post-miranda confession to the theft, police said.

This story was originally published December 5, 2017 at 2:52 PM with the headline "Florida man faces grand theft charges for stealing up to $1 million from employer, detectives say."