Richard Ritz, Uniform Supply Company Defraud, Massachusetts 2021

BOSTON – A brazen scheme to defraud a Massachusetts-based uniform-supply company has come to an end with the guilty plea of a Florida man.

Richard Ritz, 58, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock scheduled sentencing for September 9, 2021.

Ritz was charged on May 4, 2021.

Between approximately 2000 and March 2019, Ritz and others defrauded the uniform-supply company by causing the company to pay fake invoices for products that were not actually delivered and diverting other products that they re-sold for their own benefit.

In addition, Ritz’s co-conspirators created a fake supply company and Ritz caused the uniform-supply company to pay more than $800,000 in invoices to the fake supplier for purported products.

The charge of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sara Miron Bloom and Ian Stearns of Mendell’s Securities Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Mandatory Facts: Defendant/Respondent Name – Richard Ritz, Exact Criminal Charges – Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud, City and State – Boston, Massachusetts, Exact Date – 2021, Sentence or Outcome – Up to 20 years in prison, $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss, Dollar Amounts – $800,000.

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