Attorney charged with embezzling from veterans charity

LITCHFIELD — A local attorney already sentenced to prison on related federal charges was arrested Wednesday and charged with embezzling almost $1 million from a charity that supports U.S. military veterans and their families, according to a state authorities.

Kevin E. Creed, 69, is charged with one count of first-degree larceny.

Creed was sentenced in November to more than three years in prison for taking more than $1 million from the charity designed to aid veterans, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Connecticut.

Creed previously pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, according to federal officials.

Creed, who was free on a $100,000 bond, is scheduled to report to prison Feb. 10, federal officials said.

At the time he was sentenced on the federal charges, officials from the Connecticut U.S. Attorney’s Office said, Creed “solicited funds at fairs, carnivals and supermarkets, and also held fundraising events, including the Bristol halfmarathon and a 10-kilometer foot race, based on the representation that the money raised would support the construction and operation of the West Haven Fisher House.”

“While Friends of Fisher House Connecticut made a $1 million donation in 2015 to assist with the financing of the construction of the Fisher House West Haven, Creed used his position to take approximately $1.4 million that had been raised for the organization and use it for both personal and law firm expenses,” according to federal authorities.

State officials said their case stems from an investigation into the charity Creed established, the Friends of Fisher House Connecticut, purportedly to raise funds to support the building and maintenance of a Fisher House comfort home in West Haven. The state did not say why the amounts of the alleged embezzlement differed in the state and federal cases.

The arrest is the result of an investigation conducted by the Statewide Prosecution Bureau in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney following a complaint by an attorney for the Fisher House Foundation and the Fisher House Foundation in Connecticut, according to state authorities.

The Fisher House Foundation is located in Maryland. Its mission is to build “Fisher Houses” on properties associated with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals and on U.S. military installations that include major medical facilities. A Fisher House is a multi-unit residence where veterans and their families can stay while undergoing medical treatment, according to the statement from state authorities.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Creed ran the FFH-CT out of his law practice in Bristol.

Between January 2015 and November 2018, while he collected donations that were raised by various organizations around the state, Creed allegedly embezzled approximately $985,000 when he failed to transfer those funds to the charity and, instead, used them for his own purposes, according to state authorities.

Creed was arraigned and a $250,000 non-surety bond was set. His next court appearance is Dec. 9 at Superior Court in New Britain.

First-degree larceny is a Class B felony punishable by not less than one year and no more than 20 years in prison and/or a $15,000 fine, according to state authorities.

Contributed photo / Attorney Kevin Creed, of Litchfield, was arrested Wednesday on charges of embezzlement.