HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Before Wednesday's arrest, Paul Steed was a respected sugar market expert for a subsidiary of famous Candimaker Mars Inc. He served on the US Trade Advisory Committee for Sweeteners and Industry Associations while making presentations at conferences.
Paul Steed of Stamford, Connecticut, has been accused of stealing more than $28 million from Mars since around 2013 through various schemes, including detouring funds to the businesses he founded. He has been charged with seven counts of wire fraud and two counts of tax evasion.
Steed, 58, a dual US and Argentinean citizen, pleaded not guilty in federal court in Bridgeport on Wednesday and was ordered to be detained in court. A US Magistrate Judge said Steed was a flight risk, saying that while the government seized $18 million in theft funds, millions remained unexplained and Steed has strong ties with Argentinean families.
Steed's lawyer, Federal Public Defender Phoebe Bodurtha, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Thursday.
His wife, Martina Steed, told The Associated Press in a short call that she was unaware of all the facts of the incident and declined to comment further.
In a statement, Mars Inc. said the case included “the actions of one individual who attempted to exploit the organization for its personal benefit.”
“We are fully working with law enforcement to ensure that this issue is brought to justice soon and we are always committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards and integrity in all our businesses,” he added.
According to federal prosecutors, Steed worked remotely from Stamford Home as Mars Wrigley's global price risk manager. The company is a subsidiary of Mars Inc. based in McLean, Virginia, and is a manufacturer of M&M, Snickers, Skittles, Altoid Mint, Double Mint Gum, and other food and pet foods.
According to the judge's order, his wife had allowed him to be detained before trial, and it seemed Steed and his wife were living beyond their means.
Steed's annual salary was about $200,000, but his wife earned between $40,000 and $50,000 a year as a hairstylist, Judge S. Dave Vatti said on the order. But they paid $2.5 million in cash to a wealthy Greenwich property in Connecticut in 2023 and owned a homeless $1 million worth of Stanford.
Steed has also sent $2 million to Argentine relatives, other people and organizations over the past few years. He apparently owns a cow and a tea farm.
In July 2012, he founded the company Ibera LLC, and a year later, he began filing false bills to Mars from there, according to federal charges. The scheme is said to have continued until December 2020, when Steed stole nearly $580,000 on fake bills.
The larger scheme that begins in 2016 would result in a multi-million dollar detour through McNa LLC, a company created by another horse from Mars, the indictment said. Prosecutors say Steed told him to send the money to McNa instead to a particular sugar refinery where he is purchasing “re-export credits” from Mars.
Steed used the MCNA in other frauds, including theft of more than $11 million in the sale of Mars stakes at a financial services company, according to the charges.
Steed was appointed in early 2021 by then-US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and served on the Agricultural Trade Advisory Committee on Sweeteners and Sweetener Products.
Last year, in a LinkedIn post to preview a product conference held in New York City, Steed was listed as working for several sugar industry groups, including former president of the New York Sugar Club. He was also a member of the Sugar Contract Committee of InterContinental Exchange and a board member of the U.S. Sugar Users Association.
