SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - California, Eastern), published as received.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Christopher William Edward Abplanalp, 38, of Roseville, pleaded guilty today to one count of wire fraud, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.
According to court documents, between February 2023 and July 2025, working as an executive manager at a Placer County business, Abplanalp stole more than $2.3 million, most of which he then spent gambling. In executing this scheme, he diverted money from the business’s account with an online payment processing system to his own personal account, or to various other friends or acquaintances. Abplanalp also repeatedly charged a client’s credit card for items the client had not ordered and for invoices that did not exist, and then transferred the proceeds to himself. He also instructed clients to tender payments directly to him, and told vendors to issue rebates and refunds to his personal account, rather than the business. To conceal his theft, Abplanalp altered, deleted or made false entries to the business’s accounting software.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation with assistance from IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dhruv M. Sharma is prosecuting the case.
Abplanalp is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd on Feb. 8, 2027. Abplanalp faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
