Former attorney Thomas M. Murtha, 61, of Newtown, has been charged with wire fraud in connection with his alleged theft of more than $900,000 from clients, Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, said in an April 7 statement.

Federal officials arrested Murtha on April 5 in Michigan. Murtha then appeared before US Magistrate Judge Patricia T. Morris in Bay City, Mich., and was released from custody on $10,000 bail.

As alleged in a criminal complaint, he operated a law practice under the name Maher & Murtha LLC in Bridgeport, Conn. Beginning in approximately August 2015, Murtha defrauded five victims of a total of more than $900,000.

As part of the scheme, he made materially false statements to induce one victim to invest more than $600,000, purportedly for real estate investments. He also was retained to handle real estate transactions on behalf of other victims and, instead of remitting funds to the appropriate parties, converted the funds to his own use, according to the complaint.

The complaint further alleges that in December 2015, Murtha told the victim of his real estate investment scheme that he needed an additional $100,000 to purchase a $1.5 million commercial property in Bethel, and that a buyer would purchase the property in four to six months to convert it to condominiums. After the victim wired him the money, Murtha used the funds in connection with the purchase, in his own name, of a $725,000 house in Birmingham, Mich, the complaint alleges.

Murtha is the owner of a house at 102 Boggs Hill Road in Newtown, which has an appraised value of $807,720, according to town tax assessment records.

In September 2016, he resigned from the Connecticut bar after three grievance complaints were filed against him.

The charge of wire fraud carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

The criminal case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Greenwich Police Department, with the assistance of the Connecticut Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorneys Jennifer Laraia and David Huang, with the assistance of the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Last year, Murtha, who had served as the Newtown Pension Committee's chairman for more than 20 years, resigned from that panel, which oversees town employees' pension fund management. In a brief letter received by the town clerk on August 23, 2016, he simply stated he was resigning from the seven-member appointed panel.

In a Bridgeport Superior Court document dated September 8, 2016, Murtha, who had worked as an attorney since May 1981, submitted his written resignation as a member of the Connecticut bar, and he also waived the privilege of applying for readmission to the bar in the future.

Following a review of a report prepared by the Connecticut Judicial Branch's Statewide Grievance Committee, a judge ruled that Murtha had "committed professional misconduct" involving misappropriation of clients' funds. The grievance committee hears formal complaints lodged against lawyers. According to that committee report, he had three grievance complaints pending against him and eight pending check overdraft investigations.

"All the disciplinary matters currently pending before the Statewide Grievance Committee would be administratively disposed of, if the court accepts [Murtha's] resignation from the bar and his waiver of the right to apply for reinstatement," the grievance committee wrote last year.

Following Murtha's resignation as a lawyer, Judge Barbara Bellis appointed attorney John Mager as a trustee. Mr Mager is entrusted with  inventorying the files of Murtha, securing  the clients' fund accounts, reviewing legal office mail, taking actions that are necessary to protect the interests of clients, and providing accounting and reports to the court.