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Long Island Produce Distributor Sentenced to 7 Years for Embezzling Over $750,000
A Long Island produce distributor has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for embezzling over $750,000 from his company’s profit sharing plan.
Thomas Hoey, Jr., the owner and president of Long Island-based produce distributor, was convicted of embezzling nearly all of the assets of the profit sharing plan, which was set up for the benefit of his employees.
Hoey, 48, of Garden City, New York, was sentenced to 7 years in prison, ordered to pay $650,936.20 in restitution, $763,000 in forfeiture, and a $400 special assessment.
The sentencing took place on March 18, 2016, after a four-day jury trial before Judge Paul A. Engelmayer. Hoey was found guilty of embezzling nearly all of the assets of the profit sharing plan, which was set up for the benefit of his employees.
According to the allegations, Hoey transferred over $750,000 from the profit sharing plan to his company’s corporate accounts and then used the money to purchase hundreds of thousands of dollars of produce for the company and pay for his personal expenses, including international travel, limousine service, and luxury hotels in Manhattan.
Hoey also caused plan statements to be created that reflected the employees’ full account balances as if no money had been taken out of the plan. When employees received their statements, they believed they had a certain amount of money in the plan, when in fact, the total amount of money left in the plan was significantly less.
The profit sharing plan was set up as an employee pension benefit plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), which has strict statutory and regulatory limitations on the use of money contributed to the plan.
Hoey’s actions resulted in the plan being almost entirely depleted, leaving employees without the funds they were expecting in their retirement.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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