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Former OU Trustee Convicted On Federal Charges
By: WOUB Staff reports
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CLEVELAND — A former member of the Ohio University Board of Trustees and former namesake for the terminal of the university’s airport has been convicted on embezzlement charges.
C. David Snyder, 66, of Rocky River, was found guilty Tuesday by a jury on six charges related to taking $126,000 from an employee retirement fund and collecting nearly $860,000 from his employees but not paying the money to the IRS, according to a release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.
Snyder was convicted on one count of embezzling from an employee pension fund and five counts of failure to pay over taxes.
Prior to his conviction, Snyder was the head of of Attevo, Inc., a Cleveland technology consulting company, and head of Ruralogic, Inc., a company out of Bryan, Ohio.
Snyder was appointed to the OU Board of Trustees in 1999 and served until 2008. In 2000, Snyder donated “about half of the $1.5 million” needed to design and construct a new terminal at OU’s Gordon K. Bush Regional Airport, according to an article by the university announcing the construction. But a spokesperson for the university said Snyder’s “pledge was not fulfilled,” so the Board removed his name in 2013.
In announcing Snyder’s conviction, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Attevo employees “prepared financial records and schedules, quarterly and annual returns and reports for Attevo, at Snyder’s direction.”
The charges also stemmed from the withholding of payroll taxes at the hand of Snyder. Nearly $900,000 in payroll taxes were not paid to the IRS between 2010 and 2012.
“Snyder, on behalf of Attevo, and the IRS in 2011 agreed to a monthly payment plan of $48,350 per month to repay the company’s outstanding payroll tax liabilities,”
Court documents say Attevo made 10 payments totaling $483,500, but the payments stopped there.
While earning about $1.6 million in income, Snyder also failed to pay into retirement funds created by Snyder for both Attevo and Ruralogic, even though the money was withheld from employee wages, the attorney’s office stated in the release.
“…Instead of paying Attevo’s employment taxes, Snyder paid $20,000 per month for the rental of a personal residence in Lakewood and his vacation home in Chautauqua, New York, leases on four vehicles and other personal expenses, according to trial testimony and court documents,” the release stated.
“(Snyder) took taxes out of their paychecks, but instead of paying the taxes of the IRS, he used the stolen money to pay for his vacation home, pool renovation and otherwise fund his own lavish lifestyle,” U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman stated in the release.
Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 9.
**This story has been updated to add comment from the university spokesperson.**