We know a hefty paycheck is the apple of any exec’s eye, but the controller for this crop company took that mentality a little too far.

David Lenihan, former controller for Underwood Fruit & Warehouse Co., has a grocery list ripe with criminal charges:

• 22 federal counts of bank fraud
• Embezzling $1,512,000 from Underwood, and
• Stealing $979,000 from Washing Fruit and Produce Co.

The cherry on top is that Underwood is now suing its insurance company, Nationwide Agribusiness, for breach of contract. After Lenihan’s alleged theft, Nationwide provided Underwood with $500,000 - not nearly enough to make up for damages.

Nationwide argues the insurance claim shortchange is because of an “employee dishonesty” clause that Underwood’s situation fell under.

Since Lenihan’s theft didn’t occur when the company’s current policy was in force and Nationwide wasn’t notified quickly enough when the theft allegedly occurred, the insurance company says it should only be on the hook for the $500K payout.

Luckily, there’s some clarification as to why Lenihan went down the rotten path: He was the owner of several orchards that the company used in its operations.

Even though he was compensated as a controller, the fruit company deducted the costs of production and orchard grounds-keeping from his paychecks. Lenihan felt the deductions were too high and decided to skim extra funds off the company’s profit to make up the difference.

Tags: Breach of contract, Embezzling, Insurance claims, Theft