Employee Charged With Stealing Copper, Using Credit Cards for Fraudulent Purchases

A 29-year-old West Bend man is facing multiple charges after he was accused of stealing copper pipes and used a company credit card for multiple fraudulent transactions while employed at Absolute Refrigeration last year, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday.

Michael R. Schmidt was charged in on Monday with 15 counts of identity theft for financial gain and one count of receiving stolen property. If convicted, he faces up to 90 years in prison and $160,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint:

In November 2010, management at Absolute Refrigeration was notified by Miller Compressing that Schmidt had come in to sell brand new copper pipes stolen from the company for $278. Officials from the company went to Miller Compressing where they confirmed the pipes were stolen.

Company officials then discovered Schmidt used a company credit card on 15 separate occasions in August 2010 to purchase items from Kwik Trip gas stations. The transactions ranged from $32.75 to $128.

Schmidt is currently out of custody and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.