Clarks Summit Man Sentenced To 94 Months’ Imprisonment For His $400,000 Automobile Warranty Fraud Scheme | USAO-MDPA

SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Place of work for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Brian Larry, age 60, of Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 94 months’ imprisonment by United States District Courtroom Judge Malachy E. Mannion for fraud, aggravated identification theft, and untrue statement offenses.  A federal jury previously convicted Larry of all 13 fees in his indictment on Might 10, 2021.

According to United States Legal professional John C. Gurganus, Larry defrauded his former employer, a Wilkes-Barre primarily based vehicle warranty corporation, out of in excess of $400,000.  From January 2014 as a result of October 2018, Larry, the supervisor of the claims office, stole the own information and facts of warranty policy homeowners.  Larry then furnished it to his coconspirators, who developed phony invoices for nonexistent vehicle repair service get the job done supposedly executed at many garages in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. The plan provided the forgery of the policy owners’ signatures on the paperwork.  The wrong and forged documentation was then sent to the guarantee corporation, the place Larry permitted payment of the invoices, in exchange for dollars kickbacks.  For the duration of the study course of the plan, Larry and his coconspirators received somewhere around $400,000 paid out by the warranty corporation pursuant to the false invoices, which includes hundreds of bucks in restore get the job done for Larry’s personal car or truck that he charged to other policy proprietors.  The proof at demo confirmed that Larry then falsified inner warranty business files in an attempt to conceal his crimes.  When confronted by FBI particular agents, Larry denied receiving income kickbacks in exchange for his participation in the scheme.

In saying the sentence, Decide Mannion highlighted that Larry had expressed no regret for his illegal carry out.  Judge Mannion also ordered Larry to pay back $394,701.96 to the sufferer of his crimes, and to serve a few yrs of supervised launch following provider of his imprisonment term.

Three of Larry’s coconspirators also have been convicted in this investigation:

1. Matthew Gershkoff, age 64, of North Providence, Rhode Island pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire and mail fraud, and to aggravated id theft, and was sentenced to 30 months of imprisonment and three decades of supervised release.  Gershkoff was convicted of getting ready wrong invoices for nonexistent vehicle repairs at many car fix retailers located in Rhode Island and in Massachusetts, and for forging plan owners’ signatures.  Gershkoff pleaded guilty on May possibly 18, 2020, to leading to between $250,000 and $550,000 of fraudulent loss to the Wilkes-Barre based mostly vehicle guarantee corporation, and was ordered to pay out restitution of $385,352.19.

2. Herman Cabral, age 62, of Cranston, Rhode Island, pleaded responsible to conspiring to commit wire fraud, and was sentenced to 10 months of imprisonment and 3 many years of supervised launch.  Cabral was convicted of processing wrong invoices for nonexistent car repairs by means of his Providence, Rhode Island car detailing store, A In addition Automobile Expert services.  Cabral pleaded responsible on July 23, 2019, to triggering among $150,000 and $250,000 of fraudulent loss to the Wilkes-Barre based mostly vehicle guarantee organization, and was purchased to fork out $211,644.03 in restitution.
3. Jason Pannone, age 40, of North Providence, Rhode Island pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire and mail fraud, and to aggravated id theft, and was sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment and two decades of supervised release.  Pannone was convicted of processing untrue invoices for nonexistent car repairs via his Providence, Rhode Island vehicle detailing store, Platinum Automobile Expert services, and by way of Ultra Auto Products and services, the place he was employed.  Pannone pleaded guilty on March 23, 2021, to creating among $95,000 and $150,000 of fraudulent loss to the Wilkes-Barre primarily based auto warranty business, and was requested to fork out restitution of $128,667.16.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Phillip J. Caraballo and Jeffrey St John prosecuted the scenario.

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