The Morgan County Sheriff's Department says it started investigating the thefts on Jan. 19, 2010. That was the same day that Danner Construction of Barnett sued Bebermeyer and his wife, Sherri, to try to recover money that it believes was stolen.

The sheriff's department says investigators believe Bebermeyer obtained contracts for the company but provided false documents to the company and did not turn over all the proceeds. Danner Construction says the transactions affected none of its customers.

Detectives got records from several banks and from the company. That led to the finding of the diversion of $1.4 million. The sheriff's department says federal authorities could join its investigation.

Bebermeyer is in the Morgan County jail in lieu of a $200,000 bond. He had to surrender his passport. Morgan County is on the north side of Lake of the Ozarks.