— A Nash County man was arrested Wednesday on charges that he defrauded his employer’s charity matching gift program, federal authorities said.

Steven Kent Strange, 49, of Bailey, was charged with wire fraud. He was released pending an appearance in federal court in Connecticut.

Federal investigators said Strange established the Housing Development Foundation of North Carolina, Inc. in 2008 and listed his residence at the principal office for the charity. In 2014, he began working for Collins Aerospace, part of Connecticut-based United Technologies Corp.

UTC has a matching gift program, through which the company will match employee donations, up to $25,000 annually, to charity, authorities said.

Investigators said that, between approximately 2016 and June 2019, Strange defrauded UTC’s matching gift program by submitting fraudulent records of donations, including fabricated cashier checks, he and co-workers purportedly made to the Housing Development Foundation. Between 2017 and 2019, UTC transferred approximately $367,000 in matching funds to the foundation of North Carolina, and a review of the charity’s bank records show that a large portion of its spending appears to be personal expenditures, authorities said.