In today’s complex world, individuals and businesses are regularly on the look out for various forms of fraud that could impact them or their business negatively. Stay aware of fraud schemes happening across the country by keeping up with the latest fraud cases from the Department of Justice, the FBI, and various news outlets.
Continue reading to learn about September 2018 crime investigations and fraud cases from the FBI and the United States Department of Justice.
Money Laundering, Mail Fraud
Read Article: Six charged in massive fraud & money laundering scheme
Indianapolis, IN— United States Attorney Josh Minkler announced federal charges against six individuals, including a former regional construction project manager for a bank, the owners of two different construction companies, the owner of an Indianapolis maintenance services company, and the owner of a Plainfield, Indiana, supply company. The six defendants are alleged to have operated a large-scale scheme to defraud and embezzle over $8 million from a Pennsylvania based bank and a Pennsylvania based insurance company. These charges are the product of a two-year investigation led by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service. Neither the bank nor the insurance company are being named because they are victims in this case.
“This community has a right to hold high expectations of individuals in positions of trust in our financial institutions,” said Minkler. “Those who blatantly commit fraud and abuse their positions will be held accountable in federal court.”
Those charged were: John L. Williams, 49, Zionsville, a former employee of the bank; Ernie Perkins, 36, Zionsville, the owner of Remarkable Creative Enterprises (“RCE”); Robert Finch, 71, Indianapolis, owner of Finch Constructors and Finch Management; Donald Landis, 58, Plainfield, owner of P&L Supply; Walter Watson, 69, Detroit, Michigan, owner of W-3 construction company; and Shalonda Coleman, 42, Indianapolis, a former employee of the insurance company. Read More
Bank Fraud, Identity Theft
Read Article: Auto Sales Office Manager & Bookkeeper Charged with Bank Fraud, Aggravated Identity Theft
Providence, RI— A South Kingstown woman was arrested and made her initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Providence on charges that she allegedly forged business checks and stole as much as $400,000 from a Cranston auto dealership where she was employed as an office manager and bookkeeper.
Michelle Saritelli, 45, appeared before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Lincoln D. Almond on a criminal complaint charging her with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. It is alleged that Saritelli employed several schemes to defraud the owners of Stamas Auto and Truck Center.
Saritelli’s arrest and initial appearance in U.S. District Court are announced by United States Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division Harold H. Shaw, and Cranston Police Chief Colonel Michael J. Winquist.
According to court documents, the owners of Stamas Auto were notified that their bank accounts had been frozen. An internal review of the accounts by the business owners was begun which determined that several check ledgers were missing, funds were unaccounted for, and that numerous checks had been forged and/or fraudulently cashed. The owners notified Cranston Police detectives who sought the assistance of the FBI.
The majority of missing bank ledgers were located during a court-authorized search of Saritelli’s residence on June 7, 2018. Read More
Elder Fraud
Read Article: Canadian Man Sentenced to over 11 Years in Federal Prison for Running Telemarketing Scheme that Bilked 60,000+ Victims
Los Angeles, CA – The owner of a Canadian telemarketing operation – who was extradited to the United States last year after more than 10 years of litigation in Canada – was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison for orchestrating a telemarketing scheme that falsely promised credit card fraud protection and defrauded at least 60,000 primarily elderly victims out of more than $18 million.
Mark Eldon Wilson, 57, of Vancouver, British Columbia, was sentenced by United States District Judge S. James Otero.
As he imposed the sentence, Judge Otero noted that the criminal conduct was egregious both in scope and in terms of targeting elderly victims, who suffered both financial and emotional harm resulting from the fraud.
Following a five-day trial in March, a federal jury convicted Wilson of seven counts of mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud for having orchestrated a fraudulent cross-border telemarketing scheme that targeted American victims.
The evidence at trial showed that Wilson operated the fraudulent scheme through various companies – including OPCO International Inc. and American Fraud Watch Services – and that he directed his telemarketers to mislead victims into believing they were affiliated with the victims’ credit card companies. As part of the sales pitch, telemarketers falsely suggested to victims that they were vulnerable to credit card fraud and would be held liable for fraudulent charges on their cards. They sold the victims a non-existent credit card “protection” service for approximately $300 that purportedly would be in effect for 10 years, and they falsely promised a 100 percent money-back guarantee. Read More
Wire Fraud
Read Article: East Bay Resident Sentenced To Two Years In Prison For Defrauding Concert Promoters
Oakland, CA— Quincy Krashna was sentenced to 24 months in prison, and ordered to pay $450,000 in restitution to European concert promoters, announced United States Attorney Alex G. Tse and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett. The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Jeffrey S. White, U.S. District Judge.
Krashna, 50, of Albany, Calif., pleaded guilty on March 6, 2018. According to the plea agreement, Krashna admitted that he misrepresented to concert promoters his connections to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The victims were interested in promoting Red Hot Chili Peppers concerts in Eastern Europe. Krashna further admitted he told the concert promoters that he would hold in an escrow account a $450,000 down payment to secure the band’s services and that the money would be returned to the promoters if Krashna was unable to secure the band’s services. Krashna admitted in the plea agreement that he created a fraudulent “Escrow Agreement” that had the appearance of being an escrow agreement used by Chase Bank, when in fact the alleged escrow account was a personal bank account that he controlled. The concert promoters wired $450,000 into the fake escrow account after receiving Krashna’s assurances.
Krashna admitted in the plea agreement that he continued to inform the concert promoters that their money was in an escrow account controlled by Chase Bank, when in fact he had transferred the money out of his personal account into other accounts that he controlled. Krashna admitted that he continued to misrepresent the whereabouts of the victims’ money until March 2012.
A federal grand jury indicted Krashna on January 12, 2017. He was charged with seven counts of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343. Pursuant to the guilty plea, Krashna pleaded guilty to one count and the remaining counts were dismissed. Read More
Wire Fraud
Read Article: Bay Area CEO Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud Scheme
San Francisco, CA— Bay Area executive and Croatian national Renato Libric, the former Chief Executive Officer of Bouxtie, Inc., pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges related to a $1.5 million investment fraud scheme, announced United States Attorney Alex G. Tse and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett. The plea was accepted by the Honorable Maxine M. Chesney, U.S. District Judge.
According to the plea agreement, Libric, 39, a resident of Redwood City, Calif., admitted that from August 2017 through February 2018, he devised and carried out a scheme to defraud potential investors in Bouxtie, Inc., a Delaware corporation based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Libric admitted that an essential purpose of the scheme was to overstate the financial condition and prospects of Bouxtie, and to induce potential investors to believe Libric had authority to sell shares in Bouxtie to investors.
Libric took multiple steps to convince members of a Las Vegas-based company to invest over a million dollars in Bouxtie. As part of the scheme, Libric fraudulently suggested to representatives of the potential investors that a large publicly-traded corporation was interested in purchasing Bouxtie at a price of $150 million. To bolster this claim, Libric fraudulently placed the signature of an executive with the alleged purchasing corporation on a forged Term Sheet that purported to indicate the large corporation was interested in the purchase of Bouxtie.
In addition, Libric caused the falsified Term Sheet and a falsified bank statement to be transmitted to potential investors. The false bank statement suggested Bouxtie had a balance of over $2,000,000 in an account when, in fact, there was only $7,642.82 in the account. Furthermore, Libric placed the signatures of members of Bouxtie’s Board of Directors on a document that purported to authorize Libric to enter into agreements pursuant to which the investors would lend $1.5 million to Bouxtie and that the loan eventually would be converted into shares of Bouxtie. Read More
Financial Fraud, Health Care Fraud, Tax Fraud
Baltimore, MD – Chief U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced Atif Babar Malik, age 48, of Germantown, Maryland, to eight years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The sentence was imposed for his trial conviction on 26 counts arising from two criminal schemes involving $1.376 million in kickbacks and fraudulently billing, as well as his guilty plea to a conspiracy to defraud the United States of more than $2.1 million in taxes. Chief Judge Bredar also ordered Malik to pay a fine of $75,000; to pay restitution of $175,000; and to forfeit $241,976.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge Gordon Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Maureen Dixon, Office of Investigations, Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services; Special Agent in Charge Kelly R. Jackson of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C. Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Robert E. Craig, Jr. of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service – Mid-Atlantic Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Bret D. Mastronardi, Investigative Operations, U.S. Office of Personnel Management Office of the Inspector General.
According to his plea agreement and the evidence presented to the jury at his 13-day trial, Malik is a physician trained in pain management. Malik and co-defendant, Dr. Sandeep Sherlekar, merged their pain management practices in February 2009 to create Advanced Pain Management Services, LLC (APMS), which had offices in Maryland and New Jersey. In August 2010, APMS began doing business under the name of American Spine Center, LLC (APMS/ASC). Co-defendants Muhammad Ahmad Khan and Vic Wadhwa were respectively the CEO and CFO of APMS/ASC. Read More
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