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Defendant Bilked Utz Quality Foods Out of $1.4 Million in False Invoice and Kickback Scheme
HARRISBURG, PA – In a shocking case of corporate greed, Jonathan Haas, 45, of Easton, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 36 months in prison for his role in a brazen false invoice and kickback scheme that defrauded Utz Quality Foods, Inc. out of approximately $1.4 million.
Haas, the former owner of Haas Packaging and Design, Inc., in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, submitted a check in the amount of $100,000 towards his restitution obligations during the sentencing hearing. He was ordered to pay $925,146 restitution to Utz and $500,000 restitution to Utz’s insurance carrier, Chubb Insurance, for a total of $1,425,146 in restitution.
According to United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, Haas and Kevin Myers, 38, formerly of Abbottstown, Pennsylvania, and the former Director of Purchasing for Utz, pleaded guilty in July 2016, to an information charging them with wire fraud. Haas and Myers defrauded Utz between January 2010 and August 2014, by Myers’ preparation of approximately 43 bogus purchase orders and submission of approximately 83 false invoices for products Utz never received.
After Myers approved the false invoices for payment, Haas would kick back a portion of the proceeds to Myers. According to a forensic audit commissioned by Utz, Haas received approximately $1,425,765 from Utz and paid Myers approximately $523,500. Haas and Myers attempted to conceal some of the kickbacks as payments for fictional consulting services through a non-existent company called Myers Packaging Consulting.
The investigation into the false invoice and kickback scheme was led by the Harrisburg Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with cooperation from Utz Quality Foods, Inc. Assistant United States Attorney Kim Douglas Daniel prosecuted the case.
Judge Yvette Kane sentenced Haas to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his sentence on May 23, 2017. Myers was sentenced to 51 months’ imprisonment in November 2016.
Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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