Tuesday, November 4, 2008

2 New Hampshire Men Plead Guilty In Defrauding Massachusetts Company

Anthony L. Lopez, Jr., 34 and Russell G. Lecaroz, Jr., 36, both of New Hampshire, pleaded guilty last Friday to Conspiracy and 4 counts of Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property in a case of embezzlement from NER Construction Management, Inc. of Wilmington, Massachusetts. Between January 2003 and March 2005, Lopez was employed as an accountant for the company and issued checks to seven fictitious companies. Lopez and Lecaroz and two other New Hampshire men then cashed the checks totalling more than $534,500 and agreed to split the proceeds, according to prosecutors. Sentencing is scheduled for February 2009 and each could face up to 10 years imprisonment, plus fines of $250,000. A third defendant, James L. Plourde, 47, already plead guilty in this case and is scheduled for sentencing in January. A fourth, Donald G. Wilson, Jr. , 36, is still awaiting trial.

Read the story here, here and here.

See the DOJ announcement here.

This is a classic case of an employee in a fiduciary position creating false vendors in an embezzlement scheme. Property departmental controls may have prevented the initial theft or caught it early on.

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