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Multi-Million Dollar Mail Fraud and Money Laundering Scheme Uncovered
Christine S. DeJuliis, a 51-year-old resident of Felton, Pennsylvania, has been charged with five counts of mail fraud and one count of money laundering, stemming from a scheme that robbed the Bon-Ton Stores Foundation of over $1.2 million.
According to the indictment, DeJuliis, who was employed by the Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. since 1999, worked in an administrative capacity for the head of the Bon-Ton Stores Foundation, a charitable organization established by the Bon-Ton Stores, Inc.
DeJuliis’s duties involved much of the day-to-day operation of the Foundation. However, an investigation conducted by the U.S. Secret Service and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation revealed that DeJuliis created fictitious businesses with bank accounts and devised a scheme to have the Foundation appear to award grants to these businesses.
The grant money was allegedly put into the fictitious accounts controlled by DeJuliis, and she caused the money to be taken out of those accounts and placed into her personal accounts. Over the period charged in the indictment, DeJuliis allegedly defrauded the Foundation of more than $1.2 million.
The indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation stating the government’s intent to forfeit at least $1,282,885 traceable to the crime. Officials at the Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., and the Bon-Ton Stores Foundation were cooperative with the investigation, and DeJuliis was fired from the Foundation as soon as her conduct was discovered in July 2009.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James T. Clancy. While DeJuliis has been charged, she is presumed innocent until found guilty in court. If convicted, the maximum penalty under the federal statute is 20 years’ imprisonment on each mail fraud charge, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. The money laundering charge also subjects DeJuliis to a term of imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of the greater of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the money laundering transactions.
Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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