Articles Posted in White Collar Crimes

Karen M. Tucker, a woman accused of running a bridal show scam in Boston, has agreed to plead guilty to federal wire fraud and identity theft charges. Tucker is accused of running a company called Boston 411 in an attempt to defraud exhibitors and commercial advertisers. As part of her plea bargain, prosecutors will ask a federal court judge to sentence her to 36 to 57 months in prison.

Tucker is accused of telling exhibitors and advertisers that thousands of would-be grooms and brides and paid in advance to attend a bridal expo at the Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center. The event was supposed to take place in March 2010. According to the United States Attorney’s Office District of Massachusetts, Tucker deceived the agency that books events at the Boston convention center into thinking that Boston 411 was actually holding a bridal convention there. Tucker reportedly never completed the reservation she’d made at the center, and instead, “strung along” the booking agency, which in turn continued to assure exhibitors that the event was scheduled to happen. Prosecutors contend that the Boston fraud was part of a larger scam involving similar schemes in other US cities.

Some 100 to 200 wedding industry vendors paid Tucker $350 to $4,000 to run booths at the show. Exhibitors also gave her fees, which she used to cover personal expenses.

Tucker was charged with identity theft because she allegedly stole someone’s credit card number and used that person’s name to pay for a Boston 411 Web site. She is accused of using another person’s name to register a Paypal account.

The plea agreement will be presented in federal court in Boston in the next couple of weeks. If Tucker had been convicted by a jury, she could have faced up to 22 years in prison, 3 years of supervised release, a minimum $250,000 fine, forfeiture of assets, and restitution.

Pittsburgh Woman in Bridal Convention Scam Agrees to Plead Guilty, Justice.gov, September 28, 2010
Woman behind bridal scam to plead guilty to wire fraud, ID theft, Boston.com, September 29, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Identity Theft and Identity Fraud, US Department of Justice
Fraud by wire, radio, or television, Cornell University Law School Continue reading

Martin Raffol, who recently resigned as executive vice president of WinnCompanies’s residential arm, has pleaded guilty to witness tampering, underwriting illegal campaign contributions to local, state and federal candidates, and concealing information from the Federal Election Commission. He entered his pleas in U.S. District Court in Boston on Tuesday.

Raffol has admitted that from 2003 to 2009, he solicited campaign funds for politicians who could help WinnCompanies with its projects. In US District Court, he confessed that vendors who gave him contributions were reimbursed through the padding of contractors’ bills. This allowed him to keep the Federal Election Commission from finding out that WinnCompanies was the actual source of the money.

The candidates that received the $12,000 in illegal campaign contributions that Raffol funneled are Representatives Stephen F. Lynch of South Boston, Barney Frank of Newton, William D. Delahunt of Quincy, and Michael E. Capuano of Somerville. Raffol also has admitted to directing over $30,000 in illegal campaign contributions to Governor Deval Patrick, state Senator Dianne Wilkerson, and Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

Raffol’s criminal defense lawyer has said that Raffol was pressured by WinnCompanies top brass to raise money for sympathetic politicians and was afraid to lose his job if he didn’t comply. The charges filed against Raffol are only related to the contributions that went to federal officeholders.

A conviction for witness tampering comes with a maximum 20-year prison sentence. The concealment conviction comes with a 5-year maximum sentence. As part of his plea deal, however, Raffol is expected to receive a considerably reduced prison sentence.

Boston realty exec pleads guilty in campaign cash scam, Boston Herald, September 19, 2010
Former executive pleads guilty to illegally moving campaign contributions, Boston.com, September 14, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Tampering with a Witness, Lectlaw
Federal Election Commission
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In true “If something is wrong, somebody must be to blame and it must be a crime” fashion, the MA town of Arlington’s selectmen have voted to notify the Middlesex District Attorney’s office of a $1.5 million deficit in the school department’s budget for fiscal year 2010.

The board voted unanimously to notify the prosecutor’s office of the deficit, which school officials announced in mid August, more than a month after the conclusion of fiscal 2010.

That’s right, unanimous.

Well, would you want to be the lone person against reporting the potential white collar crime to the Commonwealth? Do you think “What do you have to hide?”type of questions might haunt you if you did?

Target anyone?

Well, several town officials have criticized Superintendent Kathleen Bodie for failing to reveal the extent of the deficit sooner, and Selectmen Chairwoman Diane Mahon told School Committee members Monday that they need to take “swift and decisive action” concerning the deficit.

Bodie has said the deficit was caused by several factors, including rising special education costs and a reduction in grant funding. She also said the total amount of the deficit was not known until August and was then revealed to the School Committee.

Hmmm…!
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Often, when I am telling you about a crime taking place in Boston’s Dorchester area, it is a story about assault or guns or drugs…or maybe all three. Not today. Today, it is a tale of conspiring to defraud the federal government.

Amadiegwu O., 63, who lived in Randolph (hereinafter, the Defendant”) is a pharmacist who ran a drug store in the area.

The Defendant became the target of a joint investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Attorney General’s office, the state auditor and Boston Police.

Yesterday, he pleaded guilty in Federal District Court. In doing so, he admitted that he defrauded federal health plans out of nearly $353,000. This would be the money he collected for prescriptions he never provided to patients, according to federal officials.

According to a statement issued by United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz’ office today, the Defendant admitted that the conspiracy worked as follows:
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It would appear that Boston-Based Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office is on the trail of what it believes to be an upcoming white collar criminal prosecution. The target is Representative Brian P. Wallace of South Boston (hereinafter, the “Target”). It has been alleged that he violated fund-raising laws.

A spokesman for Attorney General Coakley confirmed that her office is investigating the Target , a Democrat, based on a recent finding from the Office of Campaign and Political Finance
A May 14 letter from the campaign finance office cites evidence of several misdemeanor campaign violations by the Target, his wife and others involved with his campaign.

One would expect that any prosecution will use the Target’s retirement as evidence of “Consciousness of guilt”. You see, he acknowledged knowledge that campaign finance officials were investigating him when he announced his retirement in March. However, he explained at the time that, “…[t]here is nothing nefarious there. This certainly played no part in my decision.”

He said he was retiring because he wanted to spend more time with his family and on his writing.

Well, let’s hope for the Target’s sake that he has unquestionably become “Captain Familyman” and, by the time of trial, is the picture of the prolific writer.
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