Ex-Officer of Detroit Nonprofit Pleads Guilty to Stealing More Than $40 Million

The former chief financial officer for the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, who was accused of embezzling tens of millions of dollars from the organization, pleaded guilty on Friday to federal charges stemming from his yearslong scheme, prosecutors announced.

According to court records, the former executive, William A. Smith, stole more than $40 million, and perhaps as much as $65 million, from a nonprofit group tasked with beautifying the city’s once-industrial waterfront into a recreation space, with plazas, pavilions and parks.

Mr. Smith, who was arrested in June, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, each carrying maximum penalties of 20 years in prison.

“William Smith admitted today to perpetrating a financial crime that is astonishing in its scope and impact,” Dawn N. Ison, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, said in a statement.

Mr. Smith “not only betrayed the conservancy’s trust, but he betrayed the trust of the whole community, all so that he could enjoy the trappings of wealth and comfort,” she said, adding that she remained “shocked at the scale of the fraud and the harm it has caused.”

Messages to Robert Higbee, a lawyer listed for Mr. Smith in court records, were not immediately returned on Saturday.