(WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com) — Five residents of Pennsylvania and Ohio have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh for reportedly defrauding a nonprofit medical organization.
The indictment of those residents pits various charges against them, including conspiracy to commit mail/wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and mail fraud.
The 17-count indictment named two residents from Masury, OH; two residents from West Middlesex, PA; and one from Sharpsville, PA, as the defendants.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, Western District of Pennsylvania, from 2011 through 2019, the defendants allegedly defrauded Primary Health Network, a nonprofit medical organization, of more than $2 million through a series of schemes. in each of the schemes to defraud.
“Defrauding a nonprofit medical organization not only harms that organization, but it also does great indirect harm to the patients these organizations are created to help,” said Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti. “Through the great investigative work of and partnership with our law enforcement partners, the US Attorney’s Office is able to prosecute these matters to hold perpetrators of such crimes accountable.”
If found guilty, the defendants could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000, or “no more than twice the gross gain to any person or loss to any person other than the defendant, whichever is greater,” on each of the mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit mail/wire fraud counts.
On each of the charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, if found guilty, the defendants could face up to 10 years in prison, and a fine up to $250,000, or “no more than twice the gross gain to any person or loss to any person other than the defendant, or no more than twice the amount of the criminally derived property involved in the charged transactions, whichever is greatest.”
The actual sentence will be based upon the seriousness of the offense and any prior criminal history of the defendants.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) conducted the investigation that led to the indictment in this case.
