Financial Fraud: PAUL D. LAMARCHE Pleaded Guilty To Wire Fraud And Theft Of Government Property

<h2>Captain of Prominent Tourist Sailing Ship Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Claiming Disability<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p><strong>Collected Disability Payments Claiming He Couldn’t Work&comma; while Telling Coast Guard He had No Impairments for Captain’s Credentials<&sol;strong><&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 Captain of a Seattle tourist sailboat was sentenced today in U&period;S&period; District Court in Seattle to 9 months in prison&comma; two years of supervised release&comma; a &dollar;5&comma;500 fine and &dollar;324&comma;738 in restitution and civil penalty&comma; announced U&period;S&period; Attorney Annette L&period; Hayes&period; PAUL D&period; LAMARCHE&comma; 67&comma; pleaded guilty to wire <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;loans-fraud-getting-a-loan-after-identity-theft&sol;amp&sol;">fraud and theft<&sol;a> of government property in March 2018&comma; admitting he collected more than &dollar;177&comma;000 in disability payments from the Railroad Retirement Board while operating Emerald City Charters – a tourist attraction running sailing ships on the Seattle waterfront&period; At the sentencing hearing U&period;S&period; District Judge James L&period; Robart said LAMARCHE was &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;…stealing from the government and lying about it…&period; He’s obviously made a lot of money&comma; but he’s stealing every year… He’s a thief&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to records filed in the case&comma; in June 1988&comma; LAMARCHE claimed he could no longer work as a Burlington Northern Brakeman&sol;Conductor due to a back injury&period; In August 1993&comma; he began receiving a disability annuity from the Railroad Retirement Board&period; In connection with those payments&comma; he certified annually that his medical condition had not improved&comma; that he was unable to work and had limited earnings&period; In fact&comma; from 1984 to the present&comma; LAMARCHE owned and operated Emerald City Charters&comma; which operates two large sea-going sailboats on Elliott Bay&period; While claiming disability&comma; LAMARCHE submitted multiple forms to the U&period;S&period; Coast Guard certifying that he had no impairments that limit his physical activities or ability to pilot the sailboats&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>On multiple occasions in various settings&comma; LAMARCHE appeared in promotional videos actively sailing the boats&period; He made statements that he had missed &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;only a couple days of work in 23 years&comma;” and he appeared in a television feature story doing yoga on a stand-up paddleboard&period; Even as the Railroad Board began investigating his disability claim in 2015&comma; he continued to submit false reports claiming he was not able to &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;lift&comma; pull or carry heavy items” was &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;unable to run or jump&comma;” and had &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;debilitating headaches daily&period;” He now admits all those statements were false&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In addition to the &dollar;177&comma;369 in restitution&comma; LAMARCHE agreed to pay an additional &dollar;177&comma;369 as a civil penalty for violating the False Claims Act&period; The U&period;S&period; Coast Guard has a pending action to address LAMARCHE’s Captain’s license&period; LAMARCHE was ordered to report to prison October 2&comma; 2018&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The case was investigated by Special Agents of the Railroad Retirement Board Office of Inspector General &lpar;RRB-OIG&rpar; and U&period;S&period; Coast Guard Investigative Service&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Hobbs and the civil investigation and settlement were handled by Assistant United States Attorney Kayla Stahman and Investigator Judy Swem&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;usao-wdwa&sol;pr&sol;captain-prominent-tourist-sailing-ship-sentenced-prison-illegally-claiming-disability">Original PressReleases&&num;8230&semi;<&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;

False Claims ActFinancial Fraud