ALBANY — Cachet Financial Services, the firm that moved money for MyPayrollHR, has stepped up its efforts to get a judge to prevent the CEO of the now-shuttered Clifton Park payroll processor from accessing millions of dollars in allegedly stolen funds.

The injunction request comes as banks, financial institutions and other companies that did business with Michael Mann are vying to recoup money they said was stolen by the elusive Edinburg executive during and after the alleged $70 million check-kiting scheme that resulted in Mann facing a federal bank-fraud charge. He has not yet entered a plea.

"Time is of the essence," wrote Evan K. Farber, a lawyer for Cachet, in an October injunction request.

Without the injunction, Farber said there is "a significant risk" that those funds will disappear. "Such an outcome will eviscerate Cachet’s ability to be made whole at the end of this litigation," Farber wrote.

MyPayrollHR fiasco: Pioneer Bank, Michael Mann agree to settlement

MyPayrollHR debacle: Bank asks judge to disburse Cachet funds

Cachet, as a processor for "automated clearing house" (ACH) payments, had the necessary permits and licenses to move money electronically from one bank account to another. The firm contracted with MyPayrollHR to disburse payroll checks into employee accounts across the country.

The decade-long relationship seemingly went off without a hitch until September, when according to Cachet's account Mann tampered with the electronic transfer process, diverting $26 million in funds meant for employees who relied on MyPayrollHR into his own bank account. During the next payday, Cachet was debited millions of dollars for payroll checks — money that Mann had allegedly stolen.

That transfer, coupled with Cachet's decision to ask banks to reverse the payroll transactions, left employees nationwide in limbo with negative bank accounts. NACHA, the agency that regulates the ACH process, later said Cachet improperly issued those reversals.

But Cachet isn't the only entity that wants its money back.

Southwestern Payroll Services, an Oklahoma-based payroll provider in which Mann held a majority stake, last week filed a motion asking the court to keep in mind that Southwestern has nearly $10 million in client tax funds also frozen in Mann's bank account.

Southwestern previously filed a lawsuit against Mann and Pioneer Bank, where some of his funds are stored. The lawsuit claims Pioneer still accepted $6.7 million in taxes belonging to Southwestern clients even after it froze Mann's account.

A Southwestern lawyer, Andrew C. Jayne, said the company does not oppose a temporary injunction stopping the transfer of funds, but "would like to make the Court aware of this related lawsuit" and asks "that these funds be returned to Southwestern Payroll so they may be paid to the appropriate taxing authorities."

Legal filings from Cachet accused Pioneer of leaving the California-based institution in the dark about the frozen funds, instead blaming Mann for the situation. The difficulties led to Cachet seemingly shutting down its ACH operations last month.

Cachet's CEO, Aberash Asfaw, said the last time he spoke with Mann was in early September, after the funds had been frozen and before news of the alleged scheme had broken.

In the middle of a conference call, Mann told Asfaw and another Cachet representative that he would call back in a few minutes, Asfaw wrote.

"The next time I learned anything about Mann is when I read an article about his arrest and arraignment in federal court on charges of bank fraud," Asfaw wrote.

Michael.Williams@timesunion.com or 518-454-5018.