Reuters/Jim Bourg
FBI police vehicles.
- The home of MyPayrollHR president Michael Mann was raided Monday afternoon, an FBI spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider.
- MyPayrollHR closed suddenly on Sept. 5, leaving tens of thousands of people around the country without their paychecks and spurring an FBI investigation.
- No arrests were made, and Mann hasn't been seen since the company closed.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
FBI agents on Monday afternoon conducted a raid on the home of MyPayrollHR head Michael Mann in Edinburg, New York.
A spokesperson for the FBI's Albany bureau confirmed to Business Insider that agents were at Mann's address Monday in connection with an ongoing investigation, but declined to provide further details. The raid was first reported by The Daily Mail.
Mann is the president of ValueWise, the parent company that owns MyPayrollHR. The cloud-based payroll and HR service unexpectedly shuttered on Sept. 5, leaving tens of thousands of people without paychecks.
When MyPayrollHR shuttered, over 4,000 of the company's clients were abruptly notified that their payroll transactions couldn't be processed "due to unforeseen circumstances," according to the Albany Times-Union. The company also abandoned its Albany offices the same day.
With the shutdown of the company, up to $35 million suddenly went missing, according to cybersecurity watchdog Brian Krebs. The FBI's Albany bureau announced it was investigating the company for possible "fraudulent activity" in a statement posted to Twitter last week, and called on impacted business owners to submit tips about the company.
No arrests were apparently made in connection with the FBI raid Monday afternoon, according to the Daily Mail. Agents reportedly arrived at the property around 4:30 a.m. and stayed for an hour. Mann and his wife, Kim, have laid low since the company's closure, and no news organization has been able to obtain a photo of either of them in the past week.
As a result of MyPayrollHR's sudden closure, thousands of people who use the service found that automatic direct deposits into their accounts had been withdrawn, leaving many with negative bank accounts.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday that he would ensure the company is held accountable.
"We will not allow these bad actors to take money away from the hard-working people in this state," Cuomo said.
MyPayrollHR's website appeared to be down as of Tuesday morning. A call to its Albany office led to a voicemail message stating that "all members of our sales team are unavailable." A voicemail left by Business Insider requesting comment was not immediately returned.
