Businessman Found Guilty of Stealing Money Donated to Charity

The co-owner of a Strongsville RE/MAX office has been found guilty of theft for stealing money employees thought was going to charity.

, 49, of Parma, is to be sentenced by Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Ronald Suster Nov. 17.

Suster, who heard the case Oct. 3, issued his verdict today.

Snyder's business partner, Kevin Beaver, 43, of Lakewood, has already pleaded guilty and been sentenced to five years of probation.

Snyder was charged with one count of theft, a fourth-degree felony, according to Maria Russo, spokewsoman for Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason's office, for failing to turn owner money Realtors in the Strongsville office donated to the Children's Miracle Network to the charity.

 launched the investigation in December 2009 after some real estate agents from the Strongsville RE/MAX office came forward with allegations.

"The donations were coming out of their commission checks," Detective Lt. John Janowski said. "They wanted to get a total for their tax returns, so they called the Children's Miracle Network. They were told they didn't have a total."

Russo said Snyder and Beaver arranged to have each agent contribute a certain percentage of their commissions to University Hospitals for the Children's Miracle Network.

The company made several donations in 2005, but stopped in 2006. Between 2006 and 2009, Snyder and Beaver failed to make a donation to the charity and instead kept the money themselves, Russo said.

When that came to light, the pair made a $44,000 payment and an $8,000 payment to Children's Miracle Network to cover the funds deducted from realtors' commissions checks for several years.