STAMFORD, CT — A 39-year-old Stamford man is accused of embezzling more than $1 million over 10 months from the luxury car service center he worked at, Stamford police said.

Francisco Ortiz, a Stamford resident, turned himself in at police headquarters on May 21 on an arrest warrant that charges him with first-degree larceny. The warrant came with a bond of $100,000, Assistant Stamford Police Chief Richard Conklin said.

Miller Motorcars, a luxury car dealership based in Greenwich that has a service center in Stamford on Magee Avenue, contacted Stamford police in November 2023 after they discovered a large number of fraudulent tow requests, Conklin said, noting that Ortiz was the tow manager for the company.

An investigation was launched by Sean Coughlin of the SPD’s Property Crimes Unit.

“Our investigation by Coughlin revealed that between Jan. 6, 2023, and Nov. 2, 2023, Ortiz placed 918 fraudulent tow service requests for luxury vehicles which were never towed or serviced,” Conklin said.

Ortiz sent bills from the fraudulent tow requests to a fake company he created, Conklin added. Overall, the amount stolen was $1,068,774.

Investigators attempted to recover the stolen funds from Ortiz’s bank accounts, but they were unsuccessful.

“He did confide to investigators that the majority of the funds were spent on gambling websites and liquor stores,” Conklin said. “When investigators attempted to freeze any assets, his accounts were zeroed out.”

Conklin said Ortiz has since been fired from the company.

“The investigation continues to see if he was involved in any other criminality,” Conklin mentioned.

According to the CT Judicial Branch website as of Friday morning, Ortiz was still in custody. He’s scheduled to appear in Stamford Superior Court on June 4.

Miller Motorcars has several high-end dealerships in Greenwich, and a Maserati dealership in Westport, according to their website.