James Appel, who has worked for the Maryland Republican Party and numerous GOP candidates, was indicted on federal charges of wire fraud and money laundering, court records show.

The indictment was handed up on March 26 and unsealed Monday morning, the records show. Details of the accusations were not immediately available.

Neither Appel nor his attorney immediately responded to voicemail or email messages Monday.

Appel has specialized in political campaign finance for years and had been the Maryland Republican Party’s comptroller since 2017. His responsibilities included managing accounting and human resources, as well as ensuring compliance with campaign finance laws, according to the party’s website.

Appel was no longer listed on the state party website Monday morning, and the party’s executive director, Ashleigh Presnar, said he no longer has a position with the party. She did not say when the relationship ended.

Presnar declined to comment on the indictment because party leaders had not yet seen it.

Appel previously led Anne Arundel County’s Republican Party, ran for the Annapolis City Council and served as treasurer for several candidate campaigns.

Appel was the original treasurer of the Maryland Freedom Caucus, a group of seven conservative delegates who organized to raise money as a slate. The caucus replaced Appel as treasurer with Robin Sprague.

Del. Matt Morgan, chair of the Freedom Caucus, said he was surprised to learn of questions around Appel because he did solid work raising and tracking money for the caucus. Even so, the caucus quickly removed Appel as treasurer when there were reports he was under investigation.

“We’ve gone through our account and I’m not aware of any money missing,” said Morgan, a St. Mary’s County republican.

Appel’s company, GOP Compliance, was paid by more than a dozen campaign entities in 2025, according to reports filed with the state. Del. Kathy Szeliga, for example, reported paying GOP Compliance $1,900 in 2025 across two payments under the category “Legal Fee — Compliance/Administrative.”