Pennsylvania Accountant Sentenced for Conspiring with Organized Crime Family in Fraud Scheme

Pennsylvania Accountant Sentenced for Conspiring with Organized Crime Family in Fraud Scheme

A Pennsylvania accountant, Howard Drossner, 53, of Ambler, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced to serve 40 months in prison for conspiring to defraud FirstPlus Financial Group Inc., a Texas-based financial services company. Drossner, a certified public accountant (CPA), pleaded guilty to a superseding information charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman of the District of New Jersey made the announcement. U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler imposed the sentence in the District of New Jersey.

According to court documents, Drossner joined the conspiracy in February 2008 when he helped Nicodemo S. Scarfo, a made member of the Lucchese organized crime family, and Scarfo’s then-fiancée secure a $500,000 mortgage to purchase a house in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey. The false tax returns, which exaggerated Scarfo’s fiancée’s income, were used to secure the mortgage. The down payment on the house was made with money looted from FirstPlus.

After the First Plus scheme was shut down by federal law enforcement in May 2008, Scarfo was unable to pay the mortgage and the house ultimately went into foreclosure. It was sold by the bank in 2010.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Kugler sentenced Drossner to three years of supervised release and fined him $125,000. Drossner was required to notify the Pennsylvania State Board of Accountancy of his guilty plea and consent to the voluntary suspension of his CPA license.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Newark and Philadelphia Field Offices, the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations for the New York Region, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Adam L. Small of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven D’Aguanno and Howard Wiener of the District of New Jersey.

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