Darren Cormier, Embezzlement, Massachusetts 2019

A Bellingham man has been sentenced to 31 months in prison for his role in a scheme to embezzel over $1 million from a Massachusetts company.

Darren Cormier, 35, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to 31 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay forfeiture and restitution each in the amount of $1,284,792.

Cormier, who worked as a product manager for a Bellingham manufacturing company, worked with co-conspirator Michael H. Tran, 35, of Woonsocket, R.I., to embezzle millions of dollars from the company.

From December 2013 to May 2016, Cormier told the company owners that he was purchasing equipment for the company using his PayPal account, which was linked to the company’s credit cards. Instead of making legitimate equipment purchases, however, Cormier used his PayPal account to pay Tran, who withdrew the money in cash and used it to pay for personal expenses.

Tran and Cormier concealed the fraud by adjusting the names settings in Tran’s PayPal account to make it appear on account statements as if the payments were submitted to legitimate vendors. Cormier and Tran also submitted fraudulent invoices and purchase orders to the company in the name of some non-existent vendors, such as “A Plug Tool Supply” and “MHT Industrial.”

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jordi de Llano, Deputy Chief of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit, prosecuted the case.

Cormier pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts wire fraud in March 2019.

The total amount of money embezzled from the company is over $1 million, with Cormier and Tran ordered to pay forfeiture and restitution each in the amount of $1,284,792.

Cormier’s co-conspirator, Michael H. Tran, was sentenced to 46 months in prison earlier this month for his role in the scheme.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/bellingham-man-sentenced-million-dollar-embezzlement-scheme