Financial Fraud: Group Of Individuals Charged For Operated a Scheme That Defrauded An Illinois-Based Company

<h2>Three Men Charged with Defrauding Illinois Company of More Than &dollar;1&period;5 Million<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>John H&period; Durham&comma; United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut&comma; and Brian C&period; Turner&comma; Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation&comma; today announced that a grand jury in New Haven has returned a seven-count indictment alleging that JOHN T&period; FINKLE III&comma; 57&comma; of East Haven&comma; Connecticut&semi; STEVEN C&period; GOLD&comma; 46&comma; of Pleasant Prairie&comma; Wisconsin&comma; and KENNETH J&period; PEDROLI&comma; 59&comma; of Stony Brook&comma; New York&comma; operated a scheme that defrauded an Illinois-based company of more than &dollar;1&period;5 million&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mh-content-ad"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js&quest;client&equals;ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; crossorigin&equals;"anonymous"><&sol;script>&NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle"&NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;"&NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article"&NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid"&NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1081854981"><&sol;ins>&NewLine;<script>&NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>The indictment was returned on February 13&comma; and Finkle surrendered to law enforcement this morning&period; Following his arrest&comma; he appeared before U&period;S&period; Magistrate Judge Sarah A&period; L&period; Merriam in New Haven&comma; entered a plea of not guilty to the charges&comma; and was released on a &dollar;500&comma;000 bond secured by his East Haven residence and a rental property in East Haven owned by his wife&period; Gold and Pedroli will be arraigned in the near future&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As alleged in the indictment&comma; Finkle and Gold were employed by an Illinois-based supplier of electronic components&comma; identified in the indictment as &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Company A&period;” Finkle was primarily employed in sales for the company and Gold operated the accounting and billing systems for the company&period; Pedroli purchased electronic components from Company A for a business he operated in Islandia&comma; New York&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The indictment alleges that between approximately February 2015 and December 2018&comma; Finkle&comma; Gold and Pedroli defrauded Company A through a scheme involving purchases that Pedroli made from the company&period; As part of the scheme&comma; Finkle instructed Pedroli to place his orders and list prices at a fraction of Company A’s published prices&period; After Finkle submitted Pedroli’s orders to Company A at the discounted prices&comma; the products were shipped from Company A to Pedroli&period; Finkle instructed Pedroli to pay only a portion of the invoiced price and to make the payments directly to Finkle&period; Pedroli then wrote checks to Finkle&comma; which Finkle deposited into his personal bank account&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It is further alleged that Finkle instructed Gold to apply fictitious credits to the invoices in order to reduce the amount of money Pedroli owed Company A&period; Finkle then wrote checks to Gold&comma; which Gold deposited into his personal bank account&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It is alleged that Company A was defrauded of more than &dollar;1&period;5 million&comma; and that Finkle profited more than &dollar;500&comma;000&comma; through this scheme&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The indictment charges each defendant with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud&comma; an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years&period; The indictment also charges Finkle with two counts of wire fraud&comma; Gold with two counts of wire fraud&comma; and Pedroli with two counts of mail fraud&period; Each of these charges also carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>U&period;S&period; Attorney Durham stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt&period; Charges are only allegations&comma; and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation&period; The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U&period;S&period; Attorney Ray Miller&period;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Financial Fraud