AG: Former brewery owner passed bad checks to employees

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) — The former owner of Dark Horse Brewery in Marshall has pleaded guilty after passing bad checks to his employees, according to a release from the Michigan Attorney General’s Office.

Aaron Morse, 47, of Marshall, was charged with conducting a criminal enterprise and five counts of each of the following: larceny by conversion, receiving and concealing stolen property and larceny by false pretense, according to the AG.

Morse pleaded guilty to conducting a criminal enterprise Tuesday and agreed to complete a drug addiction program and pay employees what he owes them, the AG’s office said.

He was the “sole business agent” of Dark Horse Brewery in Marshall but sold the business in 2020, according to the release.

Marshall Police began to investigate Morse after they say he passed $20,972.82 in invalid checks to his employees. Later, the U.S. Department of Labor notified the AG’s Office that Morse also failed to pay over $36,000 in retirement contributions, $29,000 in employer match retirement funds and $24,000 in health insurance policy premiums to employees, the AG’s office said.

That led to over $50,000 in unpaid employee health claims. Thirty-six employees were enrolled in the company’s retirement plan, health plan or both, the release said.

Morse used the stolen funds to support his business, according to the AG’s office.

He will have to pay a restitution sum, which has not yet been determined, by the time he completes his court-ordered drug treatment program. The AG’s office said if he doesn’t, he’ll be sentenced for conducting a criminal enterprise, the 20-year felony he pleaded guilty to.

Previously, Morse pleaded guilty to a count of a bad check more than $500 and agreed to pay $20,972.82 back to employees affected by the bad checks, according to the release.

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