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Press Release

Guilford Contractor Pleads Guilty to Submitting False Claim to the U.S. Postal Service

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Connecticut

John H, Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Scott Pierce, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, announced that MARCEL VAN WOLVELAERD, 62, of Guilford, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today in New Haven federal court to submitting false documents to the U.S. Postal Service.

According to court documents and statements made in court, VAN WOLVELAERD owns and operates CableComm, LLC.  From approximately 2007 through 2014, the U.S. Postal Service (“USPS”) contracted with CableComm to perform repair and maintenance work at various USPS facilities.  In 2017, VAN WOLVELAERD sought payment on certain repair and maintenance work done in Connecticut.  Prior to making payment, the USPS requested that VAN WOLVELAERD show proof of his costs.  In response, VAN WOLVELAERD submitted to the USPS a certified claim that included several invoices detailing his costs, including three false invoices from an electric company.  Two of the invoices falsely inflated CableComm’s costs, and the third was entirely fictitious.

VAN WOLVELAERD is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford on March 6, 2018, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years.

VAN WOLVELAERD is released on $20,000 bond pending sentencing.

This matter is being investigated by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Liam Brennan.

Updated December 12, 2017