『尊米网』域名资讯平台

SHEBOYGAN -- A 41-year-old Sheboygan man was charged today with selling his employer�s domain name for $200,000 and using corporate credit cards to finance international trips with a stripper girlfriend, according to a complaint filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.

Stephen M. Galstad, of 429 St. Clair Ave., is accused of selling the sofa.com domain name owned by Dinesen�s Leather Only to a London-based firm without the company�s permission, the complaint said.

He faces up to five years in prison and $25,000 in fines on a felony charge of theft in a business setting. Galstad is in custody awaiting his initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon, officials said.

According to the complaint filed by Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf:

Galstad worked out an agreement in October 2005 with London company Deliverance Pension Scheme to sell the Web address for $200,000. Records subpoenaed by investigators show the domain was transferred to the new owners in November 2005, and $200,000 was wired to Galstad�s personal account about two weeks later.

Galstad, who had worked for Dinesen�s for 16 years and managed the company�s stores, then transferred considerably more than $10,000 to two women, one from New York and one from Brazil. Neither woman was Galstad�s wife, whose divorce from him was finalized in June 2006.

The theft came to owner Lynn Dinesen�s attention when a friend told her the sofa.com address was no longer sending people to the company�s site. The address is operated by a London-based online furniture retailer, which according to its Web site launched in September 2006.

Meanwhile, investigators found Galstad has been using a corporate credit card to travel to Brazil, Canada, Las Vegas and New Jersey with a woman identified by his employer as a stripper from Las Vegas.

Landgraf said the use of corporate credit cards is being investigated, so the total amount stolen is unknown, but in one case his employer said he drained a credit card with a $15,000 limit.

Galstad was confronted by Dinesen and her lawyer in May 2006 and admitted to the thefts, saying he was like �a kid in a candy store� and that he �got greedy.� However, the incident was not reported to police until April 2007.

Landgraf said Galstad immediately repaid Dinesen $66,723 and claimed he gave some of the money to the business in spring of 2006. The claim is being investigated, though it wouldn�t change the criminal act of transferring the money to a personal account, Landgraf said.

Landgraf said the reason for the delay between Dinesen�s discovery and report to police may be related to ongoing business troubles, which have since led to the company declaring bankruptcy.

Harold Stein, an attorney representing Dinesen�s owner Lynn Dinesen, declined to comment without first conferring with Dinesen. No lawyer is listed for Galstad in online court records.

Galstad will be in Milwaukee County Circuit Court at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Though Milwaukee Police Department detectives are investigating the credit card activity, Landgraf said additional charges are unlikely. Multiple thefts from a single victim are typically grouped into one charge, which in this case is the one already filed.

Eric Litke writes for the Sheboygan Press. E-mail him at [email protected]