BROOKLIN, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- A Brooklin man is behind bars after being accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from a local boat builder. Police say Steven Ngyren of Brooklin took $700,000 from Brooklin Boat Yard while he was employed there.
Nygren was a long-time consultant for the company before becoming its CFO. It was around that time, 14 months ago, that the money started going missing.
According to a police affidavit, $350,000 was used to support a general store Nygren owns in Brooklin. He used another $70,000 to pay for his daughter's wedding.
A little over a week ago, Brooklin Boat Yard's owner, Steve White, noticed the money missing. His company's bank sent him a notice saying he had no more money in his business bank account and was likely the victim of embezzlement and check forgery.
White then set up a meeting with Nygren, which state police investigators recorded. They say Nygren admitted taking the money, told White he had a gun and said he wanted to shoot himself.
White told him to stop talking like that and declined to let Nygren pay him back saying he wanted Nygren to go to jail. Police also say some of the money Nygren took was sent to a company he had worked for in Massachusetts before moving to Maine.
Hancock County District Attorney, Matthew Foster, says that means the FBI and federal prosecutors are having to look at the case too.
"It complicates things because we're working with two different court systems," he said. "The federal system works on its own track and the state system works on its own track, and if there's going to be federal charges brought, those would supersede the state charges."
Brooklin Boat Yard sent NEWS CENTER a written statement about the ongoing investigation earlier today.
It's from the company's president and reads in part:
"For many years Steve Nygren was a trusted consultant, employee and friend of Brooklin Boat Yard, so I'm surprised and saddened to learn that there may have been a breach of that trust."
Nygren is still being held at the Hancock County Jail after being unable to post bail.
The charges against him could change as the federal investigation begins.
