NEW HAVEN — A 50-year-old Westport man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for misappropriating a U.S Treasury check for more than $477,000 from a business he previously co-owned.
Neil A. Lott was charged with wire fraud in connection with the misappropriation scheme, according to an announcement by Connecticut’s U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery.
The indictment was returned Jan. 3 by a grand jury at U.S. District Court in New Haven, and Lott was arrested the following day, according to Avery.
Lott, according to the statement, owned 51 percent of Pacific Atlantic Handling Services, LLC, a baggage-handling company based at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York from 2017 until August 2021.
But after being terminated “for cause” in August 2021, Avery said, Lott in November of that year opened “a business bank account in the name of PAH without PAH’s knowledge or authorization.”
On Nov. 30, 2021, Lott allegedly deposited into the account a U.S. Treasury check for $477,167, paid to the order of PAH, for an employee retention tax credit, according to the statement.
Following his indictment, Lott appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Dave Vatti in Bridgeport and was released on $350,000 bond.
If convicted of wire fraud, Lott faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.
Westport police joined in investigating the case, according to Avery, which is being led by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, with assistance from the Port Authority Police Department.
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