Articles Posted in White Collar Crime Highlights

On June 30, 2008 Anthony M. Tesvich, a former employee of Home Depot, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of tax evasion, in connection with a scheme to defraud Home Depot. According to the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), the conspiracy took place from October 2002 to October…

On June 30, 2008, Joel M. Gostomelsky, the director of the Hines, IL Department of Veteran Affairs (“VA”) Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy (“CMOP”) pled guilty to one count of conspiring to allow a subordinate to participate in decisions directly affecting the financial interests of the subordinate’s spouse and one count of accepting illegal gratuities. Between…

On June 26, 2008, five major international airlines including Socit Air France (Air France), Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (Cathay), Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM Royal Dutch Airlines), Martinair Holland N.V. (Martinair), and SAS Cargo Group A/S (SAS) pled guilty and agreed to pay fines for their role in a major international conspiracy to fix prices…

On June 24, 2008, John Cockerham, a U.S. Army office, and his wife, Melissa Cockerham, of San Antonio pled guilty to charges of conspiracies to commit bribery and money laundering. Mr. Cockerham pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and one count of money laundering. Mrs. Cockerham pled guilty to one count…

On June 20, 2008, Charles N. Kriss, a former New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services engineer, pled guilty to conspire to commit bribery in connection with a repair project to reconstruct Pier 86 where the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum is located. Mr. Kriss agreed to serve a sentence and pay a…

On June 18, 2008, Howe Electric Inc., a California-based electrical contractor, pled guilty and agreed to pay a fine of $3.3 million for rigging bids on Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC”) E-Rate Program (“E-Rate”) projects in two Fresno, CA schools. The company will pay a total of $300,000 in criminal fines and $3 million in restitution.…

On June 17, 2003, Home City Ice Company pled guilty to conspiracy in allocating packaged-ice customers and territories among its co-conspirators. The DOJ alleged that Home City along with its co-conspirators suppressed competition by allocating customers and territories in the Detroit Metropolitan area and southeastern Michigan amongst themselves. This conspiracy took place between January 2001…

On June 13, 2008, Frank Granizo, a former president of a licensed freight forwarding company based in Florida, pled guilty to wire fraud related to paying kickbacks to an unnamed executive at an unnamed manufacturing company. Mr. Granizo also agreed to help the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) in its ongoing investigation. The fraud scheme took…

On June 12, 2008, James P. Robinson of Atlanta, GA was charged with two counts of income tax evasion and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a kickback scheme against Home Depot. After appearing in court, the presiding judge granted Mr. Robinson a $10,000 bond. Allegedly, Mr. Robinson took kickbacks from foreign…