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Utz Supplier Sentenced for $1.4 Million Scheme
HARRISBURG, PA – Jonathan Haas, the former owner/operator of a supplier to Utz Quality Foods, Inc., has been sentenced to 36 months in prison for his role in a $1.4 million false invoice and kickback scheme.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Haas, 45, of Easton, PA, submitted a check for $100,000 towards his restitution obligations during the sentencing hearing. He was ordered to pay a total of $1,425,146 in restitution to Utz and its insurance carrier, Chubb Insurance.
Haas, the former owner of Haas Packaging and Design, Inc. in Bethlehem, PA, and Kevin Myers, the former Director of Purchasing for Utz, pleaded guilty in July 2016 to an information charging them with wire fraud. Haas Packaging & Design supplied Utz with shelving and packaging products.
The scheme involved Myers preparing approximately 43 bogus purchase orders and submitting 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, Haas paid Myers approximately $523,500.
Haas and Myers attempted to conceal some of the kickbacks by making payments to a non-existent company called “Myers Packaging Consulting.” Judge Yvette Kane sentenced Haas to 36 months in prison and ordered him to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on May 23, 2017.
The case was investigated by the Harrisburg Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with Utz Quality Foods, Inc. cooperating with the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Kim Douglas Daniel prosecuted the case.
Haas and Myers were involved in a complex scheme that defrauded Utz out of approximately $1.4 million. Their actions were a breach of trust and a serious betrayal of the public’s trust. The lengthy prison sentences they received are a reminder that white-collar crimes will not be tolerated.
Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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