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Authorities: St. Charles man stole $500,000-plus from Aurora company

The former vice president of Diamond Envelope of Aurora has been charged with stealing more than $500,000 from it and another company owned by his family.

Michael P. Jania, 46, of the 300 block of North Third Avenue in St. Charles, posted $10,000 bond Sept. 20. His next court date is Oct. 21.

He is charged with stealing more than $500,000 but less than $1 million between March 2012 and March 2017 from Diamond and Diamond Plus 2, according to DuPage County court records. If convicted, Jania could be sentenced to four to 15 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the DuPage County state's attorney's office. Spokesman Paul Darrah said he cannot say more about it than what was contained in the complaint that was filed, including how the office learned of the theft, or if the charges are related to a lawsuit the companies' owners filed against Jania in 2017.

Jania took $100,000 from Diamond the day after his family fired him in March 2017, according to a lawsuit,

The lawsuit also accused him of taking $501,508 from Diamond Plus 2 and of failing to fully repay about $900,000 in loans made to him by the companies, Jania Family LLC, his parents' trusts and his grandmother.

The lawsuit was filed by the companies, the LLC, and his mother, Judith; brother, Alan; sister, Susan Foley; and grandmother, Armida Jania.

Jania said he was fired because he had questioned Diamond's finances. He denied taking the money and said other relatives had received similar "distributions." He also denied that he borrowed from his grandmother and that he didn't fully repay the other loans, according to court records.

He also accused his mother, brother and sister of preventing him from retrieving personal items from his office when he was fired. Those personal items included sports memorabilia, personal records, furniture, $92,000 in cash, and $1.6 million in jewelry belonging to his then-fiancee. The jewelry was in a pouch hidden under a football helmet in a credenza, he wrote in his counterclaim.

In December 2017, his family learned DuPage authorities found the jewelry at his house, court records said.

Jania has not returned a call seeking comment.

Several voicemail and email messages to Alan Jania have not been answered.

Jania also has been sued by his now ex-fiancee in San Diego, California. She claims he persuaded her to take out a $350,000 loan on a property she owned there. She said she lent him $250,000 of the loan proceeds and put his name on the property's deed. Her suit says he promised to take his name off the deed once he repaid her, but that he has not done either. Jania denies the allegations.

Jania is listed as fundraising chairman on the website of Swim City USA, a nonprofit group that wants to build an indoor pool complex in St. Charles.

  Diamond Envelope in Aurora. DuPage County authorities have charged former company executive Michael P. Jania with stealing more than $500,000 from the company and another, Diamond Plus 2. He worked there for 30 years, until spring 2017. The companies are owned by him, his mother, his brother and his sister. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
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