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U. S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Northern District of Illinois
Patrick J. Fitzgerald Federal Building
United States Attorney 219 South Dearborn Street, Fifth Floor
Chicago, Illinois 60604
(312) 353-5300
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS CONTACTS:
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 19, 2002 AUSA Brian Netols (312) 535-5320
AUSA/PIO Randall Samborn (312) 353-5318
ACCOUNTANT AND TAX FRAUD CHARGES ADDED TO INDICTMENT IN
ROSEMONT INSURANCE AGENCY FRAUD AND MONEY LAUNDERING SCHEME
CHICAGO -- A federal grand jury today returned a superseding indictment against
two men
charged previously in an alleged fraud and money laundering scheme, adding
charges that they,
together with an accountant who was charged today for the first time, conspired
to defraud the
United States of approximately $500,000 in federal tax revenue. The new
indictment was returned
in the already pending case against Nick S. Boscarino and Ralph E. Aulenta, two
north suburban
men initially indicted in January for allegedly using a series of sham
transactions to siphon $288,670
in insurance premiums paid by the Village of Rosemont to an insurance agency
that Aulenta
controlled. The original 15-count indictment alleged that Boscarino and Aulenta
laundered the
funds through various bank and brokerage accounts they controlled before
eventually dividing the
proceeds -- which after being invested totaled more than $460,000 -- between
them. Today’s
indictment alleges that Boscarino and Aulenta, together with Irving B. Mangurten,
a certified
public accountant, conspired from 1990 to 2000 to cheat the government of tax
revenue and to
impede the Internal Revenue Service in the collection of individual and
corporate income taxes,
announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern
District of Illinois.
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Mangurten, 51, of 811 Silver Rock, Buffalo Grove, a partner in a Morton Grove
accounting
firm, was charged with tax fraud conspiracy and seven counts of assisting in the
preparation and
filing of false individual (five counts) and corporate (two counts) returns for
Boscarino and a
restaurant company that Boscarino owned.
The new indictment charges Boscarino, 50, of 40 Overbrook Rd., Barrington, with
tax fraud
conspiracy and the same seven counts of filing false individual and corporate
returns, in addition to
the same 12 counts of money laundering and one count each of money laundering
conspiracy and
wire fraud that he was charged with previously. Aulenta, 61, of 1496 Turkey
Trail Dr., Inverness,
was charged in the new indictment with tax fraud conspiracy and two separate
counts of filing false
individual tax returns, in addition to the eight counts of money laundering and
one count each of
money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud that he was charged with previously.
The indictment
also seeks forfeiture of $462,765.
Boscarino and Aulenta previously entered not guilty pleas to the original
charges. All three
defendants are scheduled to be arraigned on the superseding indictment on Sept.
25 before U.S.
District Senior Judge John Grady in Federal Court.
According to the new indictment, during the time of the alleged fraud scheme,
Boscarino was
an officer and shareholder of four Rosemont companies that provided services
related to trade
shows: O.G. Service Corp., Eastern Services, Inc., American Trade Show Services,
Inc., and
Bomark Cleaning Service Corp.; and of Skybox, Inc., which operated a restaurant
named Ribs in
the Rosemont Village Hall. Aulenta was president of an insurance brokerage,
American Business
Insurance Agency of Illinois, Inc., which later became Acordia of Illinois. The
Village of
Rosemont, O.G. Service, Eastern Services, American Trade Show Services and Ribs
all purchased
insurance through ABI/Acordia of Illinois.
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The tax fraud charges allege that the defendants concealed from the IRS income
that
Boscarino and Aulenta earned from the fraud scheme. Boscarino and Aulenta
allegedly conspired
to hide income from the IRS between 1991 and 1996. Beginning in 1995, Mangurten
allegedly
joined the tax fraud conspiracy, assisting Boscarino and Aulenta in concealing
income and the taxes
they owed from the insurance fraud scheme in 1995 and 1996. In addition,
Mangurten allegedly
assisted Boscarino in preparing and filing of false individual returns for the
tax years 1997, 1998 and
1999.
The indictment alleges that Mangurten knew in 1995 that money received by Ribs
from
ABI/Acordia was actually income to Boscarino, but that he prepared tax returns
for Ribs in 1995
and 1996 that included $50,000 in 1995 and $60,000 in 1996 as income to Ribs,
which reported a
net operating loss. He also prepared returns for Boscarino that did not include
the personal income.
In 1997 and 1998, Mangurten also allegedly prepared individual returns for
Boscarino that
overstated investment losses by more than $133,000, and in 1999, that he
understated by more than
$850,000 in capital gains and other income from the sale of Boscarino’s
interests in Bomark and
Ribs.
Mr. Fitzgerald announced the charges with James W. Martin, Special
Agent-in-Charge of
the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago, and
Thomas J. Kneir,
Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. The
investigation is continuing, they said.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian P. Netols
and Patrick
S. Layng.
If convicted, the money laundering conspiracy count and four money laundering
counts each
carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine, while nine
other money
laundering counts each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a
$250,000 fine. Wire
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fraud carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The
tax fraud conspiracy
carries maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while each
count of filing a
false tax return carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a
$250,000, in addition to
mandatory costs of prosecution. Defendants convicted of tax offenses also remain
liable to the IRS
for any penalties, interest and back taxes owed. As an alternative fine on some
counts, the Court
may order a fine totaling twice the gross loss to any victim or twice the gain
to the defendant,
whichever is greater. The Court, which also must order restitution, would
determine the appropriate
sentence to be imposed under the United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not
evidence of guilt.
The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which
the United States has
the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
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