Franklinville, N.J., Man Charged With Using Fraudulent Textbook Invoices To Steal $300,000 From Schools Across The U.S.
February 15, 2011 |
CAMDEN, N.J. – A Franklinville, New Jersey, man was arrested today by federal agents of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for allegedly mailing fraudulent invoices for non-existent workbooks to more than 70,000 schools throughout the United States, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Robert S. Armstrong, 44, was charged by complaint with one count of mail fraud. He appeared this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen M. Williams in Camden federal court.
According to documents filed in this case:
In July 2014, Armstrong used commercial mail receiving agents to open mail boxes in Sewell, New Jersey, and Las Vegas, Nevada, under the name of his business, Scholastic School Supplies LLC. Armstrong then drafted fraudulent invoices seeking payments of $647.50 for 50 math or language workbooks at $12.95 each. In order for the invoice to appear legitimate, Armstrong included a telephone number and a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) for Scholastic School Supply. The invoices also included International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs), unique identifiers assigned to each book published in the United States. All three numbers were phony - the telephone number was out of service, the FEIN did not exist, and the ISBNs were either non-existent or did not correspond to the workbooks listed on the invoices.
Armstrong then contracted with a legitimate bulk mailing company in Maine and had the phony invoices mailed to more than 73,000 schools across the United States. Each invoice included a payment envelope preaddressed to Scholastic School Supply’s Sewell or Las Vegas address.
In response to the phony invoices, multiple schools sent monies to Scholastic School Supply. Armstrong opened at least eight bank accounts for Scholastic School Supply into which he deposited the checks from the victim schools. Seizure warrants for five of those accounts have seized $281,440.46 to date, with a pending warrant seeking to recover an additional $45,232.00 in fraudulent proceeds from another account. The remaining two bank accounts were closed in September 2014.
The charge of mail fraud is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000, twice the gross profits to Armstrong or twice the gross losses to the victims of his offense.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited law enforcement officers of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge David Bosch in Philadelphia; the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Sean F. Dalton; the Gloucester County Office of Consumer Protection, under the direction of Harold Spence, Director of Consumer Affairs; the Washington Township Police Department, under the direction of Raphael Muniz, Chief of Police; and the Franklin Township Police Department, under the direction of Mike Rock, Chief of Police, with the investigation leading to today’s arrest.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Diana Carrig of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Camden.
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Defense counsel: Rocco C. Cipparone Jr., Esq. Haddon Heights, N.J.
