An FBI affidavit revealed that an employee of one of the victims became suspicious when Smerling was seen paying himself more than once a month and for larger sums than what had been agreed upon for his legal and bookkeeping services. The employee also expressed concern because Smerling constantly claimed that the businesses were struggling financially, despite the companies appearing to do well. However, the victim continued to trust Smerling, even after the employee raised these concerns.
The affidavit further described how Smerling attempted to involve the employee, referred to as “Employee 1” in the document, in a kickback scheme. In 2019, Smerling allegedly tried to recruit Employee 1 into taking more than their authorized salary by paying himself four times per month instead of the agreed-upon two. Smerling reportedly asked Employee 1 to give him half of the extra pay. However, Employee 1 declined to participate in the scheme.
Authorities allege that, in addition to the unauthorized payments, Smerling transferred at least $1.5 million to himself and attempted to conceal the theft by changing the mailing address for the victims’ account to his own home address. Bank records from Citizens Bank showed that Smerling made two unsuccessful attempts to steal $350,000 from one of the victim’s companies.
