Accountant Accused of Stealing $1.6M from Fla. Law Firm

Updated: A 50-year-old accountant has been charged with scheming to defraud and grand theft concerning the $1.6 million he allegedly stole from a Florida law firm between 2004 and 2008.

"According to jail records, [David] Sarnowski electronically transferred to his own personal account $1.6 million from the account of the law firm, Tanney Eno Griffith & Ingram," reports the Tampa Tribune in a brief article.

Sarnowski reportedly worked for the Clearwater-based firm. Arrested Friday, he is being held in lieu of $200,000 bail at the Pinellas County Jail.

A later-breaking article in the St. Petersburg Times reports that Sarnowski allegedly funneled law firm money to his own payroll account to support a gambling habit. The claimed scheme came to light after the accountant, on Feb. 14, suddenly stopped coming to work at the Yarborough Evans and Sarnowski accounting firm.

"Sarnowski, who had done the law firm's payroll accounting and payroll tax payments for more than 10 years, took his work computer with him," the Times article adds.

Updated at 4:45 p.m. to include information from St. Petersburg Times article.