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United States Attorney Alejandro N. Mayorkas
announced December 15 that Russell Crawford, the former owner of Valley
Building Materials Company, was sentenced to six months in prison for
embezzling over $700,000 from employee pension plans. In June, Crawford pleaded
guilty to two counts of embezzlement from an employee pension plan, two counts
of filing false ERISA documents that concealed the embezzlement and one count
of loan fraud. Crawford, 73, of Canoga Park, ran Valley Building Materials
Company, a manufacturer and installer of custom windows and doors, until August
of 1995 when the company declared bankruptcy.
According to Assistant United States Attorney
Barbara Scheper, who is handling the case, Crawford admitted that he drained
Valley Building Materials' profit sharing plan and defined benefit plan of all
the plans' assets, totaling over $700,000. Crawford then concealed the
embezzlement in documents required to be filed with the Department of Labor and
Internal Revenue Service.
Citing the serious nature of Crawford's crimes
and the devastating effects on Crawford's former employees, United States
District Court Judge Dean D. Pregerson rejected Crawford's plea for probation
and sentenced Crawford to six months in prison to be followed by a term of
supervised release of five years. As a term of his supervised release, Crawford
was ordered to spend ten months in home confinement. In addition, Crawford may
not be employed in any capacity in which he has custody of an employer's funds
without the prior permission of the employer. Crawford was ordered to pay
nominal restitution to the victims of his fraud because it was found that he
did not have the present or future ability to pay.
The case is the product of an extensive
investigation by the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration of the
Department of Labor and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
# # # U.S. v. Crawford
Criminal Actio
#99-17-DDP |
