Rocco Lazazzaro, Embezzlement, Nevada 2013

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A brazen embezzlement scheme has come to an end with the guilty plea of Rocco Lazazzaro, a 55-year-old man from Las Vegas.

Lazazzaro pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 22, 2013.

According to the plea agreement, Lazazzaro and his co-conspirator, Hope Ippoliti, conspired to steal approximately $3.7 million from Turnberry Associates, a company that owned or developed several high-end properties in Las Vegas.

The scheme involved Ippoliti, the former controller for Turnberry Associates, creating fund transfer requests containing false information that the funds were intended for business-related purposes when she and Lazazzaro actually intended to withdraw the funds for personal use.

The total losses to Turnberry Associates and its affiliates are approximately $5.6 million, with Lazazzaro directly involved in causing approximately $3.7 million of those losses.

Ippoliti, the former controller, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in March and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, 2013.

Both Lazazzaro and Ippoliti face a maximum of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, criminal forfeiture, five years of supervised release, and are required to make full restitution to Turnberry Associates.

The case was jointly investigated by the FBI and United States Secret Service, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina M. Brown.

This guilty plea is part of efforts underway by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.

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