University Business Manager In Georgia Guilty Of Embezzling Nearly $220K

Rebecca Adams Hill, 56, of Athens, Georgia, has pleaded guilty to racketeering charges admitting she embezzled nearly $220,000 from the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government, where she had been employed as a business manager.  According to authorities, over a period of about four and a half years, from March 2005 through September 2009, Hill abused the university's reimbursement system by submitting fraudulent expenses for supplies purportedly purchased with personal funds.  Hill was sentenced to 20 years in prison which was suspended due to her wheelchair bound condition and also ordered to pay  $219,795.69 in restitution.  Hill had reportedly worked for the university for 30 years.

Read the story here and here.

Former CEO Of Glock Firearms Found Guilty Of Racketeering; Skims "Millions"

Paul F. Jannuzzo

Paul Francis Jannuzzo, 55, of Atlanta, Georgia, has been found guilty conspiring with another former executive to "skim millions" from Glock, Inc., for which he had served as CEO.  Jannuzzo was indicted in 2009 for conspiring with Peter Manown, another former Glock executive and local attorney, to "divert millions of dollars from the company between 1991 and 2003 using cloned bank accounts, forged documents, and fraudulently obtained loans."  Manown accepted a plea agreement in 2008 in exchange for assistance in the prosecution of Jannuzzo. 

Read the story here, here and here.

Update (4/11/2012): Jannuzzo was sentenced to 7 years in prison for his role in the pilfering of more than $5 million from Glock, Inc.

Michigan Woman Accused Of Embezzling $436K From Funeral Home

Erica Cederberg Kaznowski, 41, of Bay City, Michigan, has been charged with embezzling at least $436,000 from pre-paid receipts and insurance premiums for funeral services of clients of Stapish-Cederberg Funeral Homes where she had been employed as business manager.  According to authorities, over a six and a half year period, from January 2005 through June 2011, Kaznowski converted pre-payments and insurance premium payments for her own benefit instead of escrowing them as required.  Kaznowski has been charged with one count of racketeering and seven counts of embezzlement. 

Read the story here.

Colorado Man Pleads Guilty To Operating Ponzi Scheme That Bilked $30+ Million From Investors

Mark Jay Jackson, 55, of Denver, Colorado, pleaded guilty to charges he operated a Ponzi-type investment fraud scheme that may have bilked more than $30 million from investors over a nearly 15 year period. Prosecutors allege that starting in April 1995 until June 2009, Jackson promised investors returns of 12 to 36 percent from his activities as a day trader. Instead, he is alleged to have used investment funds to enrich himself and to pay phony returns to other investors. Jackson is due to be sentenced on May 25 on the single racketeering charge he plead guilty to Monday. Jackson's scheme unravelled last summer and he was indicted in December on 59-counts of racketeering, securities fraud, theft and forgery.

Read the story here, here and here.

Read the criminal indictment here.

Former US Virgin Island Insurance Agent Convicted At Trial For Bilking Clients Out Of $200K

John Gumbs of St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, was convicted today on felony fraud charges by a jury after it deliberated for only 30 minutes. Gumbs was accused in a two count indictment, including obtaining money by false pretense and racketeering, of bilking clients out of $200,000. Prosecutors alleged that over the course of nearly three years, Gumbs, through his insurance agency, John J. Gumbs Insurance Agency, collected insurance premiums from some 246 policyholders which he misappropriated. Gumbs was originally arrested in November 2008 after US VI insurance investigators identified a "pattern of fraud" in a routine audit.

Read the story here and here.

Hat tip: Reader Joe

Update: Michigan Couple Ordered To Pay Treble Damages In $700K Embezzlement Case

Adam John Korejsza, 45, and his wife, Lisa Ann Rock-Korejsza, both of Detroit, Michigan, were ordered to pay $2.1 million, representing treble damages in a civil judgement for misappropriating $700,000 from the city of Rouge River, Michigan, with whom Korejsza had a contract to manage the city's prescription drug program. Korejsza also faces multiple criminal charges in the same case. Korejsza, who is the owner of owner of Manhattan Group Services, LLC, allegedly misappropriated more than $50,000 per month between January 2007 and September 2008 from insurance monies intended to pay for prescription drug coverage for city workers. He was arrested last November. Korejsza reportedly has prior felony convictions in 2006 for embezzlement and failure to pay child support. His next court appearance in the criminal case is scheduled for February 25th. Lisa Rock-Korejsza has a prior criminal history for passing bad checks in Florida.

Read FraudTalk's original post on this story here.

Read the story here.

Read the Michigan order suspending their license here.

Update (9/28/10): Adam John Korejsza pleaded guilty today to one count of racketeering, seven counts of embezzlement, and two counts of tax evasion in state court. Under the plea agreement, he will serve a total of 60 months in jail.

Convicted Felon From Michigan Charged With Embezzling $750K From Municipality

Adam John Korejsza, 45, of Detroit, Michigan, has been charged with misappropriating some $750,000 from the city of Rouge River, Michigan, with whom he had a contract to manage the city's prescription drug program. Korejsza reportedly has prior felony convictions in 2005 for embezzlement and failure to pay child support. In the current case involving Rouge River, Korejsza, who is the owner of owner of Manhattan Group Services, allegedly misappropriated more than $50,000 per month between January 2007 and September 2008 from insurance monies intended to pay for prescription drug coverage for city workers. He has been charged with one count of racketeering and three counts of embezzlement of more than $100,000, five counts of embezzlement over $50,000 and two counts of tax evasion.

Read the story here.

Read the State of Michigan disciplinary action here.

Former NYC Lawmaker Sentenced To 10 Years For Fraud, Embezzlement

Brian M. McLaughlin, 57, and a former assemblyman for the New York City borough of Queens, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for fraud and embezzlement. McLaughlin pleaded guilty last year to charges of racketeering and perjury, admitting he embezzling $3.1 million from labor groups, his own re−election committee and the Electchester Little League. Prosecutors alleged that McLaughlin also took kickbacks from electrical contractors and used the funds in part to buy automobiles for his wife and his former mistress, Sonia Menezes. His alleged criminal activity occurred between 1995 and 2006, according to prosecutors. McLaughlin, a Democrat, was also the president of the New York City Central Labor Council. He is reported to have cooperated with prosecutors, leading to the recent indictments of Queens Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio and Santo (Sandy) Petrocelli, the former head of Petrocelli Electric. McLaughlin, who was originally indicted in October 2006, is scheduled to start his prison sentence on July 21st.

Read the story here, here and here.

Rod Blagojevich Indicted

Former Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, (D-IL), 52, of Chicago, Illinois along with five close associates including his brother, was indicted by a grand jury yesterday in a superseding indictment on 16 felony counts, including racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud, extortion conspiracy, attempted extortion and making false statements to federal agents. The charges arise from allegations Blagojevich used his position as governor to offer for sale the senate seat vacated by President Obama. Associates of Blagojevich also indicted include:

• John Harris, 47, of Chicago, Illinois. Blagojevich’s former chief of staff was charged with one count of wire fraud;
• Alonzo Monk, 50, of Park Ridge, Illinois. A Blagojevich consultant, former chief of staff, campaign manager and former general counsel, now a lobbyist doing business as AM3 Consulting, Ltd.
• Robert Blagojevich, 53, of Nashville, Tennessee. Blagojevich's brother and former chairman of his campaign fund.
• Christopher Kelly, 50, of Burr Ridge, Illinois. A key Blagojevich fundraiser.
• William F. Cellini, Sr., 74, of Springfield, Illinois. Another key Blagojevich fundraiser and businessman

New allegations in the indictment include:

• Beginning in 2002 and continuing after Blagojevich was first elected governor, Blagojevich and Monk, along with Kelly and previously convicted co-schemer Antoin “Tony” Rezko, agreed that they would use the offices of governor and chief of staff for financial gain, which would be divided among them with the understanding that the money would be distributed after Blagojevich left public office;
• In 2003, Blagojevich, Monk, Kelly, Rezko and other co-schemers implemented this agreement by directing lucrative state business relating to the refinancing of billions of dollars in State of Illinois Pension Obligation Bonds to a company whose lobbyist agreed to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars to Rezko out of the fee the lobbyist would collect, and Rezko in turn agreed to split the money with Blagojevich, Monk and Kelly;
• After it became public that Kelly and Rezko were under investigation and ceased playing a significant role in raising campaign funds, Blagojevich personally continued to trade his actions as governor for personal benefits, including, for example, delaying a state grant to a publicly-supported school while trying to leverage a U.S. Congressman, who supported the school, or the Congressman’s brother, to hold a campaign fundraiser for Blagojevich; and
• In an interview on March 16, 2005, Blagojevich lied to FBI agents when he said that he maintains a separation, or firewall, between politics and state business; and he does not track, or want to know, who contributes to him or how much they are contributing to him.

Read FraudTalk's earlier posts on this story here and here.

Read the superseding indictment here.

Read the DOJ announcement here.

University Administrator Sentenced In $175K Embezzlement Case

Michelle Harris, 41, aka Michelle Dunbar, and a former program coordinator at Georgia Institute of Technology's Office of Management, was sentenced to ten years in prison for embezzling some $175,000 from the institution. Harris pleaded guilty to misusing a university procurement card to pay for personal expenses, including buying jewelry, auto insurance, groceries and even catering a wedding. Her thefts occurred over a four year period, according to reports. Harris is one of at least 17 Georgia Tech who have abused their procurement cards who have been fired, forced to resign or retire. Harris' tough sentence is due in part by the fact that she reneged on a plea agreement and has not made any restitution.

Read the story here, here and here.

Read the State of Georgia's announcement here.

Georgia Businessman Accused Of Racketeering & Embezzlement

William David Ramsbottom Jr., 43, of Macon, Georgia, has been charged in a 118-count indictment with racketeering, money laundering, bank fraud and forgery in connection with the alleged embezzlement of some $421,000 from real estate clients. Ramsbottom was a managing partner in two real estate management companies, including The Ramsbottom Company, and he is alleged to have diverted client rent monies and other funds for his own benefit. He is currently held on $110,000 bond at the Bibb County jail.

Read the story here, here and here.

Kickbacks and Embezzlement Allegations Embroil California Grower

SK Foods LP, a Lemoore, California-based grower and processor of tomato and other food products, has had its share of employee misconduct recently. Robert L. Watson, 59, of White Plains, N.Y., a senior purchasing manager at Illinois-based Kraft Foods Inc.'s, pleaded guilty to charges of receiving $158,000 in bribes from SK executive, Randall Lee Rahal, 59, of Ramsey, New Jersey. In return, Watson ensured that Kraft purchased approximately 230 million pounds of tomato products from SK Foods. Rahal also pleaded guilty last month to charges of racketeering, price fixing, bid rigging, and contract allocation conspiracies on behalf of SK. He agreed to cooperate with the government and forfeit $600,000 in ill-gotten gains. In all, prosecutors contend that representatives of six food companies including Agusa Inc., Kraft Foods Inc., Safeway Inc., B&G Foods Inc., ConAgra Foods Inc., and Frito-Lay, a division of Pepsico Inc., received bribes from Rahal.

Separately, Anthony Ray Manuel, 57, of Turlock, California pleaded guilty yesterday to embezzling some $975,000 from Morning Star Packing Co., for whom he worked until joining SK Foods in 2005. Manuel was terminated by SK Foods on Monday, according to reports. It is unclear whether he was involved in wrongdoing while at SK Foods. Manuel also plead guilty to tax evasion.

Read the story here, here and here.

Michigan Woman Charged With Embezzling $2 Million From Title Company

Melissa Bosek-Jordan, 32, of Grand Blanc, Michigan, was charged with 17 state felony counts today alleging that she embezzled some $2.2 million from her employer, Bell Title Company. Specifically, the charges include one count of racketeering, eight counts of embezzlement, four counts of using a computer to commit a crime and four counts of "uttering and publishing." Bosek's license has been revoked by the state and she has also been sued in civil court as a result of her alleged fraud. In the civil case, a judgment has been entered against her in the amount of $2.1 million. According to state investigators, Bosek transferred $400,000 from company accounts to those that she controlled. When confronted by the owners, she claimed to have wired the money back. Instead, according to investigators, Bosek stole company checks and took additional funds, totalling more than $2 million. She ran her own title company, Michigan Title, which she sold to Bell Title thereby becoming an employee. She faces 70 years in prison if convicted on all counts. She has until tomorrow to turn herself into authorities or she will be arrested.

Read the story here and here.

Appeals Court Upholds Rep. Jefferson's Indictment

A federal appeals court today upheld the indictment of U.S. Congressman William J. Jefferson, 61, (D-Louisiana). Jefferson was indicted on 16 felony counts, including bribery, racketeering, obstruction of justice, violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, conspiracy, money laundering and misusing his office. In spite of the criminal charges, Jefferson is running for re-election and is expected to win handily. The appeals court ruling paves the way for a trial in the case, pending further appeal by Jefferson. The indictment, filed last year, alleges that between 2000 and 2005, Jefferson received more than $500,000 in bribes and demanded millions more, including $90,000 he received from an informant that was later found in the freezer of his Washington home. He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors also contend that Jefferson used his influence as chairman of the congressional Africa Investment and Trade Caucus to broker deals in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and other African nations on behalf of those who bribed him. He faces up to 235 years in prison if convicted of all charges.

Read the story here and here.

Read background on the story here, here and here.

Read the DOJ announcement here.

As with the case of Senator Ted Stevens, I believe William Jefferson should have the good grace to resign from office.