Anthony Roth, Wire Fraud, Illinois 2023

CHICAGO — In a scheme to defraud a global telecommunications provider, Anthony Roth, 52, former chief financial officer of ContinuityX Solutions Inc., a computer-services company based in Metamora, IL, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. The conviction carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Roth admitted in federal court on [Date] that he and ContinuityX’s former chief executive officer, David Godwin, approached certain companies to buy services from an international telecommunications firm that the companies did not need or intend to use. Godwin and Roth promised these companies that they would not have to pay for the services because he had arranged separate side deals with other companies to fund and use the services, according to Roth’s plea agreement. Roth and Godwin then created false financial information to fraudulently inflate the financial condition of the companies.

The scam, which occurred in 2011 and 2012, caused ContinuityX to receive approximately $3 million in commission payments from the telecommunications company. The commissions were paid upfront, and Godwin provided some of the money to the companies that signed up for the services.

Roth stated in his plea agreement that he and Godwin did all of this so that the telecommunications firm would approve the sales to these companies and pay ContinuityX hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions for purportedly having brought new customers to the telecommunications company.

Godwin, 55, of Germantown Hills, IL, and a third defendant, former ContinuityX sales representative John Coletti, 56, of Canyon Country, CA, are also charged in the case. Godwin has pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of wire fraud, while Coletti has pleaded not guilty to five counts of wire fraud and one count of making false statements to the FBI.

The public is reminded that charges are not evidence of guilt. Godwin and Coletti are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve did not immediately set a sentencing date for Roth.

Related Federal Cases