CALIFORNIA MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO DEFRAUDING SKIP BARBER RACING SCHOOL
United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release
May 11, 2006
CALIFORNIA MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO DEFRAUDING SKIP BARBER RACING SCHOOL
Kevin J. O’Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JASON ALTZMAN, age 33 (d.o.b. 12/13/72), of 26640 Fallen Oak Court, Westridge Estates, Valencia, California, waived indictment and pleaded guilty today before Senior United States District Judge Peter C. Dorsey in New Haven to one count of wire fraud for embezzling approximately $130,000 from the Skip Barber Racing School in Lakeville, Connecticut.
According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, the Skip Barber Racing School provides a system of racing schools, driving schools, racing championships, as well as corporate and other events across North America relating to racing. ALTZMAN was employed by the Skip Barber Racing School, LLC (“SBRS”) from December 19, 2001 through June 14, 2005 and, for the majority of that time period, ALTZMAN served as the Director of the “Special Projects Group” and worked primarily out of California. During this time, SBRS, among other things, participated in shows and demonstrations that involved the display of industry related products, and ALTZMAN was responsible for the coordination and management of such shows and events. In his official capacities, ALTZMAN was permitted to submit to SBRS in Connecticut receipts associated with business related expenses that he incurred on his personal credit cards. Thereafter, ALTZMAN received reimbursement for those purchases.
Between June 2003 and June 2004, ALTZMAN prepared and submitted via facsimile from California to SBRS in Connecticut, false receipts reflecting business expenses that ALTMAN had purportedly incurred for purchases he purportedly made in connection with his management of SBRS racing events and shows. However, ALTZMAN today admitted that he had not, in fact, incurred the expenses, but rather prepared and generated false receipts on his computer. SBRS reimbursed ALTZMAN for these fictitious expenses.
For example, on August 12, 2003, ALTZMAN submitted receipts for business purchases to SBRS. Included among these receipts was a receipt for a $18,294.25 purchase of specialty tires from Wesco Wheel and Tire, 16159 Stagg Street, Van Nuys, California, 91406. The investigation determined, however, that the address on the receipt is occupied by Wesco Distributing, Inc., a company that distributes electrical supplies. Although a similarly named company, Wesco Track and Tire, occupied the address 8441 Sepulveda Boulevard, Sepulveda, California, the investigation determined that Wesco Track and Tire had conducted no business with SBRS, but had performed a $50 service for ALTZMAN within the past year. The investigation also determined that no such purchase existed on the credit card purportedly used by ALTZMAN in connection with the purchase. Moreover, a review of ALTZMAN’s computer recovered a file titled "Receipt3.doc," and the file was identical to that of the receipt submitted by ALTZMAN. The Wesco Wheel and Tire receipt also bore many similarities to a number of other fraudulent receipts submitted by ALTZMAN including the font, typeset, format of the itemized purchases, capitalizations, locations of items on receipts, etc.
In addition to the numerous false receipts that ALTZMAN generated on his computer, ALTZMAN today admitted that he prepared and submitted altered receipts reflecting false and fraudulent business expenses, insofar as the altered receipts reflected a higher amount than ALTMAN had actually incurred for purchases made in connection with his management of SBRS events. ALTZMAN also submitted receipts for expenses that ALTZMAN had actually incurred on a personal credit card for purchases made in connection with his management of SBRS events, but for which ALTZMAN thereafter returned the merchandise, or exchanged the merchandise for merchandise of lesser value, without advising SBRS of the credit to his account.
As a result of the fraudulent conduct set forth above, ALTZMAN defrauded SBRS of approximately $130,056.19.
Judge Dorsey has scheduled sentencing for June 29, 2006 at 10:00 a.m., at which time ALTZMAN faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years and a fine of up to $250,000.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Reynolds.
CONTACT:
U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov
Re: CALIFORNIA MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO DEFRAUDING SKIP BARBER RACING SCHOOL
It's his first big one so they'll only hit him for $3,500.
__________________
You draw 'em a picture and they eat the crayons... (Duck Waddle commenting on the creative ways some people interpret driving instruction.)
Re: CALIFORNIA MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO DEFRAUDING SKIP BARBER RACING SCHOOL
1. OUCH
2. Somebody in SBRS purchasing and inventory control needs to go to jail with him, unless he did that too. How does 130K of goods/service that never happened go unrecognized for that long?? Talk about your head in the sand.
3. Somebody post a picture of this guy to see if we recognize him
Re: CALIFORNIA MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO DEFRAUDING SKIP BARBER RACING SCHOOL
Looks vaguely familiar... wouldn't look at the camera...
Quote:
Originally Posted by ML Peter Ludwig
3. Somebody post a picture of this guy to see if we recognize him
__________________
You draw 'em a picture and they eat the crayons... (Duck Waddle commenting on the creative ways some people interpret driving instruction.)
Re: CALIFORNIA MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO DEFRAUDING SKIP BARBER RACING SCHOOL
Wow, I thought he would look a bit like a troll. How could such a good looking guy do such a stupd thing? He has everything a man can ask for - looks, hair. He could probably have been a Gigilo and made a small fortune servicing the woman on the west coast.