Harry Corl, III, Wire Fraud, California 2024

Betrayal from the Top: Former Nu-Metal Finishing, Inc. CEO Brought Down by Greed

San Jose, CA – In a brazen display of corporate greed, Harry Corl, III, the former President and CEO of Metal Finishing Company, Nu-Metal Finishing, Inc., has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in a wire fraud scheme that left over 30 employees and shareholders financially devastated.

Corl, now a resident of Pittsburg, CA, was indicted on several wire fraud and money laundering counts by a federal grand jury on November 29, 2018. After pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349 on September 25, 2023, he faced the music in a federal court in San Jose.

According to court filings, from 2008 to 2014, Corl and his estranged wife, who served as co-defendant and trustees of the company’s Employee Stock Ownership Plan and Trust (ESOP), failed to competently manage the ESOP’s cash, stock, and assets, instead using corporate funds to finance their lavish lifestyle.

Corl’s egregious abuse of power and trust led to a series of egregious financial misdeeds, including the use of corporate funds to purchase extravagant jewelry, lease luxury cars, and flaunt their wealth on social media. In one particularly egregious example, Corl used corporate funds to lease a Bentley and purchase a Mercedes S63 sedan outright.

But Corl’s greed didn’t stop there. In May 2014, he and his wife arranged a fraudulent sale of Nu-Metal, representing themselves as the sole owners of the company and falsely stating that the ESOP had been terminated. In reality, the ESOP and another shareholder owned over 50% of the company’s outstanding stock and were owed their corresponding portion of the sale proceeds.

Instead of using the sale proceeds to benefit the employees and shareholders, Corl immediately transferred nearly the entire amount to his personal accounts and fled to Texas. To date, the employees who participated in the ESOP have not received any portion of the sale proceeds owed to them, leaving them financially devastated and facing serious financial distress.

On [June 13, 2024], Corl will begin serving his 30-month sentence, which also includes a three-year period of supervised release and a $100 special assessment fee. The defendant will also be required to pay $253,625.50 in restitution to the victims.

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