Naperville accountant gets 8-year sentence for bilking employers

A Naperville man was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison after pleading guilty last year to bilking four employers and three lenders out of more than $1.1 million.

Prosecutors say 55-year-old Paul Eric Collins was an accountant who handled the finances for four companies from 2013 through 2018.

During that time, Collins admitted he stole more than $1 million from those companies by corporate checks to himself, his wife and "phony companies he created," authorities said.

He attempted to conceal the thefts by making "Ponzi-type" payments to certain victims, prosecutors said.

In addition, Collins also fraudulently obtained more than $70,000 from at least three different lenders during that time, on one occasion using an employer's personal information to obtain a loan, according to court papers.

Collins was sentenced to 98 months in prison, where he will have to serve at least 85% of that sentence. He was also ordered to repay his victims more than $1.1 million in restitution.