A South Carolina owner of a contracting company pleaded guilty in a federal court in April and admitted to conspiracy to commit fraud. The fraud was committed against BVU and involved significant amounts of money. The sentencing took place on July 21.
For his role in the conspiracy to defraud BVU, the man received a two-year prison sentence and then two years of supervised release, and he will also have to pay a fine of $5,000. His guilty plea included conspiracy to commit money laundering, mail fraud, wire fraud, tax fraud and submitting fraudulent invoices. As part of the plea deal reached during sentencing, he agreed to pay immediate restitution of $460,053 to BVUA in the form of a single lump-sum payment.
However, only three days after agreeing to a single payment, a proposed payment schedule was filed by the company owner’s attorney, showing an intention to pay the restitution over an extended period stretching to August 2033. This motion was denied by a United States District Court judge who said it was unacceptable, based on his financial statement. The judge contended that although the man’s assets include business entities rather than cash or saleable objects, he should be able to raise the agreed restitution amount within a reasonable period.
A South Carolina resident who is investigated — or has been charged — for fraud or other white collar crimes may benefit from retaining the services of an experienced criminal defense attorney. A lawyer who focuses on white-collar crimes can examine all the charges and relevant information, and may even launch an independent investigation to obtain information that may benefit the case. An experienced attorney can also discuss a potential plea deal with a defendant to ensure it is achievable, prior to committing to an agreement with the court.
Source: wcyb.com, “BVU contractor Edwards can’t stretch restitution to 2033”, John Soares, Aug. 3, 2015
