Maryland GOP official embezzled for yacht loan, feds say

James Appel, who has worked for the Maryland Republican Party and numerous GOP candidates, is accused in a federal indictment with routing money from a politician and a nonprofit in order to refinance his yacht.

Appel transferred $100,000 from a politician’s campaign accounts and another $100,000 from a local tennis nonprofit organization into his own accounts in 2024 in order to refinance a loan on a 65-foot Pacific Mariner yacht, according to the indictment.

The 58-year-old also filed campaign reports to the state for the politician that falsely inflated the balance on the accounts, the indictment alleges. He also “falsely and fraudulently” represented the status of the community organization’s assets, according to the indictment.

The indictment was handed up on March 26 and unsealed Monday. Appel faces three counts each of wire fraud and money laundering.

Appel was taken into custody Monday and appeared in U.S. District Court at an afternoon hearing, handcuffed and wearing flannel pajama pants and a fleece jacket.

He pleaded not guilty and declined to comment afterward.

Neither the politician nor the tennis organization is named in court records, but Appel is listed as the treasurer and tournament director on the Anne Arundel County Tennis Association’s website.

And Del. Kathy Szeliga, a Republican representing parts of Harford and Baltimore counties, issued a statement saying she was a victim in the case.

“As a trusted professional, political, and commercial treasurer, James Appel exploited that trust and stole from the very people he was hired to serve,” Szeliga wrote in the statement. “It’s a betrayal beyond words.”

Szeliga had paid Appel’s company, GOP Compliance, $1,900 in 2025 across two payments under the category “Legal Fee — Compliance/Administrative," according to campaign finance reports.

Szeliga called for “serious jail time” for Appel and the seizure of his assets to repay victims.

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 chair, Nicole Beus Harris, said he no longer has a position with the party. She did not say when the relationship ended.

Beus Harris declined to comment on the indictment.

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 — including Szeliga — 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 by questions about Appel, because he did solid work raising and tracking money for the caucus. Even so, the caucus quickly removed Appel as treasurer after reports surfaced that 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.

During Monday afternoon’s court appearance, prosecutors asked that Appel be required as part of his pretrial release to cease using third-party bank accounts and to disclose his criminal charges to anyone whose accounts he has access to.

Steven Wrobel, Appel’s attorney, said the candidate Appel is accused of stealing from has already “severed their relationship,” but that others continue to entrust Appel and that “he should be allowed to continue to earn a living.”

U.S. Magistrate Judge Erin Aslan agreed, but ordered Appel to notify his clients and provide a list of them to his pretrial services officer.

“Better safe than sorry,” Aslan said.

This story has been corrected to attribute a statement to Maryland Republican Party Chair Nicole Beus Harris.