A former employee of the city of New Haven’s accounting department is accused of embezzling more than $102,000 from the city by issuing vacation paychecks to himself over a period of several years.
Daniel Lion, 64, of Hamden, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of wire fraud in U.S. District Court, according to John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Federal officials said Lion worked for the City of New Haven for around 40 years, most recently in the city’s accounting department.
New Haven has a policy in which employees can be paid in advance if they are about to take approved vacation leave and Lion had access to the city’s payroll system, according to Durham’s office.
From around 2002 to June 2018, Lion periodically accessed the city’s financial accounting software to issue vacation paychecks to himself, then deleted the computer entries for the checks, which caused the payroll system to issue his regular paycheck, as well, according to federal officials.
In all, Lion was accused of stealing $102,947.44 from the City of New Haven and he is scheduled to be sentencing on Sept. 4.
Lion retired from the City of New Haven in March.
