SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A man from Springfield pleaded guilty to stealing from the Missouri Institute of Natural Science and fraudulently collecting COVID relief funds from the federal government.

According to court documents, Daniel Pomeroy entered a guilty plea for two counts of wire fraud after stealing nearly $80,000 from the Missouri Institute of Natural Science and applying for and receiving two fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loans in the amount of over $38,000.

Documents state that Pomeroy applied for the first loan on September 1, 2021 and the last loan on December 6. In February 2022, Pomeroy received the money from the Small Business Administration in a wire transfer and used the money unrelated to his claimed business.

On December 8, 2021, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office took a report from the Missouri Institute of Natural Science that between September 1, 2021, and December 6, 2021, over $77,000 was transferred out of their Simmons Bank account without authorization, with another party fraudulently using the museum’s financial information.

According to museum director Matt Forir, Pomeroy has no affiliation with the Missouri Institute of Natural Science.

An administrative assistant from the museum told investigators that approximately 60 transactions occurred in the account. The transactions included payments to Sam’s, Kohl’s, Venmo, PayPal, Robinhood, Wise, Ria money transfer, Bank of America and JP Morgan Stanley. Investigators tied those transactions back to Pomeroy.

A sentencing date has not been set at this time. Wire fraud carries a possible 20-year prison sentence and a fine up to $250,000.