A facility manager was sentenced to 42 months in prison and forced to pay restitution of nearly $20 million and surrender $2 million for his role in a kickback scheme that defrauded his employer.
A Department of Justice press release announced that Elliott Dennis Kleinman, 69, of Bel Air, Maryland, was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and tax evasion.
According to the guilty plea, Kleinman was employed by a family-owned global business headquartered in New York with two manufacturing facilities in Harford County, Maryland. Beginning in 2012, Kleinman and another employee started executing a fraudulent billing scheme at their company that provided the pair illegal kickbacks from a drum vendor. The facility managers oversaw the purchasing and storing of the drums at the manufacturing facilities.
The scheme lasted for eight years, with one company falsely invoicing Kleinman’s company more than $20 million, of which Kleinman received about $2.3 million. The second facility manager and a drum vendor both previously pled guilty for their roles in the scheme.
Dave Lubach is executive editor for the facilities market.
