Eden Prairie Man Indicted for Mail Fraud

A 34-year-old Eden Prairie was recently charged in federal court with one count of mail fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud and to obtain approximately $8.5 million from his employer.

Nathan John Mueller was indicted July 7 in Minneapolis, and his indictment was unsealed July 14. He is scheduled to make his first appearance at 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 23. Mueller’s indictment alleges that starting in June 2003, he devised a scheme to defraud and to obtain the funds by means of false representations by causing his employer, ING Reinsurance in Minneapolis, to issue about 99 checks payable to entities whose name were similar to the names of entities with whom ING Reinsurance did business.

Mueller, the indictment alleges, would deposit some of the checks into bank accounts that he controlled. He then spent the embezzled funds on gambling, cars, travel, jewelry, friends, acquaintances and extensive entertainment expenses.

The indictment also alleges that Mueller would also mail the fraudulently obtained checks to a credit card company to pay his substantial personal expenses incurred on his personal credit cards.

According to the indictment, from about June 2003 through October 2007, in furtherance of his scheme, Mueller would cause numerous items to be mailed and received from the mail, including credit card payments, and would cause numerous signals to be sent in interstate commerce, including e-mail, wire transfers and online bank account transfers. To conceal the embezzlement, Mueller made numerous false and misleading entries in ING Reinsurance’s books and records.

If convicted, Mueller faces a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. All sentences are determined by a federal district court judge.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John R. Marti.