Sentencing of Man Who Embezzled $28 Million from Mars Inc.

A Connecticut man has been sentenced to 63 months in prison for orchestrating a massive fraud scheme that resulted in the theft of over $28 million from his former employer, Mars, Inc. In addition to his prison term, Paul R. Steed will face three years of supervised release for his involvement in fraud and tax offenses.

As part of his sentencing, Steed has been ordered to pay restitution totaling $28,410,489 to Mars, Inc. Furthermore, he owes the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) $10,310,680 in back taxes. The court has also mandated that he forfeit more than $18 million from various bank accounts he controlled. Additionally, the government is pursuing a Greenwich home that Steed purchased with nearly $2.3 million in stolen funds.

Steed’s fraudulent activities spanned from approximately 2011 to 2023 while he was employed by Mars Wrigley, a subsidiary of Mars, Inc. Working remotely from his home in Stamford, he held multiple positions within the company, ultimately serving as the Global Price Risk Manager for Mars Wrigley’s Global Cocoa Enterprise.

In his role, Steed was responsible for overseeing Mars Wrigley’s involvement in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Sugar-Containing Products Re-Export Program. In a calculated move around 2016, he established a company named MCNA LLC, designed to resemble an actual Mars entity, Mars Chocolate North America. Through this fraudulent setup, Steed diverted over $15 million in Mars assets into a bank account he opened under the name of MCNA LLC. He achieved this by directing sugar refineries that were purchasing Mars’s re-export credits to pay MCNA LLC as if it were a legitimate Mars entity.

In 2017, Steed further manipulated the system by having more than $700,000 in dividend payments redirected to the MCNA LLC account. His fraudulent activities escalated in 2023 when he used a forged letter, allegedly from the Mars treasurer, to deposit a check exceeding $11.3 million into the MCNA LLC account.

From 2013 through 2020, Steed also exploited another company he owned, Ibera LLC, to invoice Mars for services that were never rendered. This scheme resulted in Mars paying Ibera LLC over $700,000, according to prosecutors.

Throughout this period, Steed failed to report or pay taxes on his illicit income on his federal tax returns from 2014 to 2023. His fraudulent activities came to an end when he was arrested on March 26, 2025. Following his arrest, he pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud on September 11, 2025. Steed was released on a $5 million bond and is scheduled to report to prison on March 5.

This extensive investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with support from the U.S. Marshals Service.

A Connecticut man has been sentenced to 63 months in prison for orchestrating a massive fraud scheme that resulted in the theft of over $28 million from his former employer, Mars, Inc. In addition to his prison term, Paul R. Steed will face three years of supervised release for his involvement in fraud and tax offenses.

As part of his sentencing, Steed has been ordered to pay restitution totaling $28,410,489 to Mars, Inc. Furthermore, he owes the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) $10,310,680 in back taxes. The court has also mandated that he forfeit more than $18 million from various bank accounts he controlled. Additionally, the government is pursuing a Greenwich home that Steed purchased with nearly $2.3 million in stolen funds.

Steed’s fraudulent activities spanned from approximately 2011 to 2023 while he was employed by Mars Wrigley, a subsidiary of Mars, Inc. Working remotely from his home in Stamford, he held multiple positions within the company, ultimately serving as the Global Price Risk Manager for Mars Wrigley’s Global Cocoa Enterprise.

In his role, Steed was responsible for overseeing Mars Wrigley’s involvement in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Sugar-Containing Products Re-Export Program. In a calculated move around 2016, he established a company named MCNA LLC, designed to resemble an actual Mars entity, Mars Chocolate North America. Through this fraudulent setup, Steed diverted over $15 million in Mars assets into a bank account he opened under the name of MCNA LLC. He achieved this by directing sugar refineries that were purchasing Mars’s re-export credits to pay MCNA LLC as if it were a legitimate Mars entity.

In 2017, Steed further manipulated the system by having more than $700,000 in dividend payments redirected to the MCNA LLC account. His fraudulent activities escalated in 2023 when he used a forged letter, allegedly from the Mars treasurer, to deposit a check exceeding $11.3 million into the MCNA LLC account.

From 2013 through 2020, Steed also exploited another company he owned, Ibera LLC, to invoice Mars for services that were never rendered. This scheme resulted in Mars paying Ibera LLC over $700,000, according to prosecutors.

Throughout this period, Steed failed to report or pay taxes on his illicit income on his federal tax returns from 2014 to 2023. His fraudulent activities came to an end when he was arrested on March 26, 2025. Following his arrest, he pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud on September 11, 2025. Steed was released on a $5 million bond and is scheduled to report to prison on March 5.

This extensive investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with support from the U.S. Marshals Service.