Man who embezzled $36M from L.A. firm sentenced to prison

LOS ANGELES  — A man who embezzled more than $36 million from a Los Angeles company was sentenced Thursday to 10 1/2 years in federal prison and ordered to repay the money.

Paul McDaniel, 44, used most of the funds he embezzled to pay off $23 million in credit card debt, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.

McDaniel embezzled the funds over more than seven years while working as accounting manager for Hypermedia Systems Inc., a media technology services firm based in downtown L.A., prosecutors said.

McDaniel obtained the money by creating and approving false vendor invoices from a Nevada corporation he created, and the money went into a bank account he controlled, authorities said.