A Maine lobster wholesaler is claiming it was caught in a bad trap. Sea Salt, a wholesale lobster company and restaurant in the town of Saco, located southwest of Portland, is suing one of its owners. In the lawsuit, Sea Salt alleges that Matthew Bellerose embezzled nearly $1.5 million worth of lobsters by creating a sham customer account. The phony account was never billed, and the suit alleges the lobsters may have been resold elsewhere, according to the Portland Press Herald.
Sea Salt is still investigating the loss and claims the damages may actually exceed $2 million. The company is seeking damages of at least $1.4 million. Bellerose, who owned 20% of the company, was fired from the firm by the other partners in June.
According to suit, Bellerose blamed the alleged embezzlement on needing to pay for his ownership stake in the company. The suit also notes that he admitted to the crime and offered to pay back his partners over text messages that read, in part, “Guys, I just want to say I’m really sorry. I’d like to resolve this as best as I possibly can with you guys without my innocent family having to suffer for my bad decisions.”
A similar case was reported in January, when a former employee of a different wholesaler plead guilty to wire fraud after shipping 50,000 pounds—or about $360,000 worth of lobster—to a client in China. When the wholesaler was unable to collect payment, they discovered its salesman had been defrauding the firm. The former employee pleaded guilty and faced up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to reporting by the Press Herald.
Lobstering is a billion-dollar economy in the Pine Tree State, employing thousands in an industry reliant on wild catch of American lobsters. So it’s no surprise that loss of lobster profits regularly snags headlines in Maine and across New England, especially during peak harvest season, which lasts from July to November.