White Collar Crime News

Several people charged with defrauding bank of $6.2 Million January 31, 2010

SUSAN A. CURTIS, her husband GARY J. STOCKING, both of Naugatuck, Conn. and CURTIS’ former husband, KEVIN W. CAFFREY, of Wolcott, have been charged with one count of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.  The Government alleges that CURTIS was employed in the Property Services Division of Webster Bank with responsibilities that included negotiating and managing bank property leases where Webster Bank was a landlord or tenant. CURTIS, STOCKING and CAFFREY established two companies called New House, LLC and Equity Realty, LLC, which CURTIS falsely represented to Webster Bank’s Vendor Management Department were landlords, an exempted category for due diligence and annual review.

CURTIS then submitted paperwork to Webster Bank’s Accounts Payable Department in which she falsely represented that New House and Equity Realty were due a fee in approximately 109 real estate related transactions involving 67 properties. As a result, Webster Bank made payments of approximately $5.04 million to New House and Equity Realty. CURTIS also caused a landlord, who was a lessor of property leased to Webster Bank, to send approximately $703,620 in lease improvement payments directly to CURTIS. CURTIS and STOCKING are also alleged to have altered the checks from the landlord to make them payable to Webster Bank c/o Equity Realty, and then deposited the checks to an Equity Realty account at another bank.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, CURTIS also falsely represented to other landlords or their counsel, who were dealing with Webster Bank, that a $450,000 check for property improvements should be paid directly to Equity Realty c/o Webster Bank. CURTIS and STOCKING then deposited the check into the Equity Realty bank account.

This is one very complex scheme.  Someone needs to fall on the sword here.  The question is, who is going to do it?  Rarely does both the husband and wife go down on the charges.  However, this case also involves the ex which makes things interesting.