A former VP for an Elmwood Bank pleaded guilty for $5.5 million business fraud. Jeffrey Gonsiewski, formerly a VP in the loan department at First Security Trust altered loan documents to make it appear customers’ payments were current when he knew they were actually overdue, preventing the bank from collection and delinquent loan procedures.
According to the FBI, the 56-year Gonsiewski tampered with–at minimum–100 loans signed-for by 50 of the banks customers.
The former bank exec entered a guilty plea for one count of bank fraud this week after being charged in July; sentencing is scheduled for December 3, and Gonsiewski faces a maximum 30-years prison sentence, $1 million in fines, and mandatory restitution for the money lost by the bank.
In the written plea agreement, Gonsiewski authorized unsecured and under-secured loans over a 4 1/2-year period by falsely showing that the loans were covered by the customers collateral. The so-called collateral was either over-exaggerated in value, or a complete fabrication. The ex-VP also revised the loan’s terms and conditions to conceal loans that were overdue. This left the bank hanging with $2 million-plus in overdrawn accounts.
Myers Detective Services is a fully-accredited, licensed private investigative firm with 50-years experience in business, criminal, and theft investigations. If you believe your company has fallen victim to fraudulent criminal theft, contact us for a free consultation.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that thousand of employees claim disability benefits when working full-time jobs. Wide-spread fraud was found to be present in both the public, and private, sectors.
The report that 1500 government employees collected benefits from the Social Security Administration (claiming disabilities) while working federal government jobs! Private sector investigation showed more than 62,000 people in 12 states on disability–unable to go to work–but feeling well-enough to apply for licenses as truck and bus drivers.
According to the GAO, fraudulent claims from workers under Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income fleeced the Social Security Administration for $10.7 billion in 2008 alone!
Both programs have enforcement regulations in place to discourage fraud, but GAO investigators found that suspicious claim review and investigations were rare and sporadic. CNBC was given access to a video, recorded using a hidden camera, of employees who showed up for work daily while also being paid for their “disability.”
In California, a TSA employee (yes, the airport “protectors”) working at her station; according to the GAO investigation, she’d bilked the SSA for $100,o00 and lived in a house valued at $1.8 million.
One postal employee in Pennsylvania showed up for work as well; when approached by investigators, she admitted to her crime and also that she’d willing committed what amounted to insurance fraud. When asked why she committed the crime, she told official that she needed the money.
The 1500 federal employees accounted for just over $20 million in 2008. One of those caught actually worked at the Social Security Administration as a collector…of improper payments.
The SSA is not happy with the report; although the investigation was recorded, they claim the GAO’s “study is hopelessly flawed.”
SSA Commissioner will be called to testify before the Senate tomorrow.
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield sent 20,000 Kentucky health care customers notification letters that their names, social security numbers, and credit card information was accessed by a small group of people who “tinkered” with the company’s URL.
The security breach wasn’t just limited to Kentucky, though.
Anthem BC/BS spokesperson Tony Felts believes that the hackers are actually attorneys. Felts said a California customer discovered the glitch and attorneys hacked into the site in an effort to prove the customer’s case. Felts said, “We believe that this manipulation was conducted to support a class action against Anthem or its parent company over the very breach being committed. We are currently weighing our legal options with respect to the data and the impact, if any, on our members, and the remediation costs incurred as a result of these actions.”
Anthem says only those who are self-insured had their information exposed, and that everyone affected received notification. Anthem BC/BS stated they’ve taken steps to ensure their customer’s safety and that no one had reported identity theft.
If the breach was caused by attorneys, that could mean a bigger problem for Anthem as it’s an indication that anyone with some knowledge of computer security could break in and retrieve personal data. While the Anthem investigates the nature of the crime, and possible suspects, their customers have to “wait and see.”
In lieu of an explanation, Anthem BC/BS is providing a year’s worth of credit monitoring services to all customers affected.
Ian Sweeney once sold sharks for a living. He also was a notorious Scotland counterfeiter. Now, he is accused of being a drug dealer and faces charges after Scottish Police “smashed his drug factory.”
Lately, Sweeney’s supposedly run a legitimate business, sweeping homes of the famous and infamous for bugs and listening/recording devices.
The raid on the factory revealed about $124 880 (U.S. dollars) of cocaine, scales, blenders, a press and heat sealing machine. Sweeney, age 38, was exposed by the Sunday Mail nearly a decade ago as Scotland’s largest music and movie pirate.
Sweeney admitted to dealing coke at the High Court in Glasgow. According to a police spokesperson, ”No one was found within the f lat and it was obviously not being occupied for domestic residential purposes but was being used for the preparation of cocaine for distribution.”
Police investigation revealed two kilos of coke in a wardrobe plus 25 k ilos of benzocaine – usually used in throat lozenges but also the UK’s most common cocaine “bulking agent”.
“The accused accepts that he established the illegal operation at his f lat and that he was actively involved during the period of the charge in the bulking out of cocaine with benzocaine.”
The court last week heard that Sweeney had several bank accounts showing large cash deposits, and used cash to pay credit card bills for luxurious trips to the United States, Japan, and Mexico.
Five years ago he was hit with a more than $780K in after being found guilty of pirating DVDs, but police won’t say how much of ill-gotten booty was recovered.
Sweeney is now bankrupt and jailed waiting for sentencing in August.
A former VP for an Elmwood Bank pleaded guilty for $5.5 million business fraud. Jeffrey Gonsiewski, formerly a VP in the loan department at First Security Trust altered loan documents to make it appear customers’ payments were current when he knew they were actually overdue, preventing the bank from collection and delinquent loan procedures.
The former bank exec entered a guilty plea for one count of bank fraud this week after being charged in July; sentencing is scheduled for December 3, and Gonsiewski faces a maximum 30-years prison sentence, $1 million in fines, and mandatory restitution for the money lost by the bank.
for a free consultation.
