United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen stated that Christopher Erik Septon, of Plymouth, Minnesota, pled guilty to one count of wire fraud and embezzlement from his previous employer.
On October 14, 2026, Septon pled guilty before United States District Judge Laura M. Provinzino. Sentencing will take place at a later date, and the offender risks a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail.
According to court documents, Septon designed and carried out a plot to steal and embezzle money from his previous employer, Ellis Properties, a small family-owned business in Minneapolis that specialized in commercial real estate.
Septon worked for Ellis Properties and was authorized to utilize corporate funds to pay vendors, contractors, and other third parties.
Septon exploited his position by unlawfully charging over $800,000 on the company credit card and routing the proceeds to his private payment-processing accounts. He made fraudulent assertions in the transaction note lines, misrepresenting to the corporation that the transactions were business-related and with third parties when they were actually transfers to his own accounts. He subsequently moved the fraud proceeds to bank accounts that he controlled.
The defendant also fabricated bogus invoices, emails, and lies to persuade Ellis Properties employees to grant him reimbursement checks for expenses he did not incur.
The defendant fraudulently induced payments by falsely representing work with third parties, including government agencies like the City of Minneapolis, the Metropolitan Council, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
“The defendant impersonated state and local government agencies to embezzle from a family-run business. Today’s guilty plea is one step closer to holding him accountable for defrauding hardworking people,” said United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen.
“Christopher Septon was given the keys to a family’s business, and instead of protecting it, he picked its pockets,” said Marta C. Grijalva, Acting Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Chicago Field Office. “He stole more than $1 million from the people who trusted him, then hid behind other people’s identities to cover his tracks. There’s a special kind of dishonesty in stealing from the very people who gave you an opportunity to earn an honest living. Septon mistook trust for weakness, and that mistake has caught up with him.”
This case is the outcome of an investigation by IRS Criminal Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Minneapolis Police Department.
Matthew D. Forbes, an assistant United States Attorney, is prosecuting the case.
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