CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago businessman pleaded responsible right now to a federal fraud cost for swindling $2.5 million from a hospital that compensated him for scarce personalized protective products in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
DENNIS W. HAGGERTY, JR., 45, of Burr Ridge, Sick., pleaded responsible to a single rely of wire fraud, which is punishable by up to 20 a long time in federal prison, and a person count of cash laundering, which is punishable by up to 10 several years. U.S. District Decide John F. Kness established sentencing for Might 25, 2022.
The responsible plea was introduced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Legal professional for the Northern District of Illinois and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Exclusive Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Area Business of the FBI. The governing administration is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney L. Heidi Manschreck.
Haggerty and two enterprise associates in March 2020 shaped a enterprise termed At Diagnostics Inc. to offer particular protecting products. The business reached an arrangement with a healthcare facility in Iowa to sell 500,000 N95 respirator masks for $2.495 million. Haggerty produced an bill to reflect the settlement and to instruct the hospital on exactly where to wire the payment. Based on the bill, the healthcare facility on March 31, 2020, wired the revenue to a bank account that Haggerty falsely claimed was an At Diagnostics account but which was in fact the account of a unique enterprise exclusively controlled by Haggerty.
Haggerty admitted in a plea settlement that he spent section of the income for his own particular advantage, including acquiring two Maserati cars and a Land Rover sport-utility vehicle, shelling out virtually $189,000 to credit rating card providers, withdrawing a lot more than $147,000 in cash, and paying out $20,000 to a personal good friend. Haggerty even further admitted that At Diagnostics under no circumstances shipped the masks, and when questioned about it by the clinic he falsely claimed that the bank had no document of the hospital’s payment remaining acquired. When his company associates also questioned Haggerty about the whereabouts of the income, Haggerty altered a bank assertion to make it show up as if the hospital’s cash had not been gained.
Haggerty admitted in the plea arrangement that he engaged in related carry out with a healthcare facility centered in Illinois. Following reaching an agreement with that clinic to provide a single million N95 masks for approximately $4.5 million, the clinic asked for that an initial payment be sent to an escrow account instead of the account Haggerty provided. When At Diagnostics unsuccessful to fulfill the hospital’s order, the money in escrow was returned. The Illinois hospital, however, later inadvertently wired far more than $933,000 to Haggerty’s account in connection with a second buy for 500,000 N95 masks that were in no way delivered. Haggerty admitted in the plea agreement that he invested some of this funds for his have particular use and did not return any of it.