Law Firm Office Manager Embezzles Infant Trust Funds, Commits PPP Loan Fraud

October 3, 2025

Bob Coleman
Founder & Publisher

Law Firm Office Manager Embezzles Infant Trust Funds, Commits PPP Loan Fraud

One of the warning signs of financial mismanagement in a small business is when a long-time employee holds sole control over the company’s financial accounts. In the case of legal firm office manager Todd M. Chapman, that structural vulnerability proved catastrophic resulting in a fraud guilty plea for embezzling over $600,000 from client trust funds and PPP loan fraud.

Chapman, age 57, worked as the office manager for a Huntington, West Virginia law firm for approximately 30 years, until April 2022. Over time, he was granted authority to write checks from the firm’s bank accounts for legitimate business expenses. But between roughly 2016 and 2022, Chapman shifted from processing legitimate payments to writing unauthorized checks to himself — drawing on both the firm’s operating accounts and client trust accounts — over $600,000.

As part of his guilty plea, Chapman admitted to using the trust he had built over decades to assume “complete and exclusive control of [the firm’s] day-to-day finances.” To disguise his actions, he funneled money he stole from clients through the firm’s operating accounts, forging signatures on checks and creating false supporting documents. He also made false statements under oath in civil suits involving former firm clients, and misled federal investigators about the missing client funds.

Chapman admitted specific amounts:

• At least $409,000 misappropriated from the estates of three deceased clients.
  
• $100,000 that a minor client was due upon turning 18.
  
• $15,838.84 from a settlement deposit (originally $20,000) intended for a minor injured as an infant.
  
• $13,686.21 from a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan of $20,375 that the firm had legitimately obtained under the CARES Act.
  

In total, Chapman admitted to embezzling at least $602,000. He said he spent the funds for personal enjoyment and lifestyle.

Chapman is scheduled for sentencing on December 1, 2025. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, up to five years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $1 million.

Watch Fraud Friday on YouTube here.