A former director of the Hammer Museum in Haines has admitted to using PayPal to steal roughly $11,500 from his former employer’s bank account. He admitted to one count of wire fraud under a deal signed last week.
Federal prosecutors and 25-year-old Riyan Stossel reached an agreement on February 5 in which the criminal charge would be dismissed. In exchange, Stossel must complete 40 hours of community service and repay the money he’d stolen, among other conditions.
According to court filings, Stossel left the museum in September 2019. He still had access to the nonprofit’s PayPal account. Stossel admitted to more than 100 fraudulent wire transfers to steal museum funds during a four-month period between December 2019 and March 2020.
The pre-trial diversion agreement must still be approved by a judge. Stossel’s next court appearance is scheduled in March.
The Hammer Museum is the world’s first museum devoted to the tool. It contains more than 2,000 hammers in its collection. It was established in 2002 by Haines resident Dave Pahl. He declined to comment, but said a statement from the museum’s board would be forthcoming. A public defender representing Stossel didn’t respond to a phone message left on Tuesday.
