A former NESN worker who was convicted of defrauding the TV community of greater than $500,000 to “fund a lavish lifestyle” has been sentenced to federal jail.
Connecticut man Ariel Legassa, 52, was sentenced on Tuesday to three.5 years in jail and three years of supervised launch for the company fraud scheme. Legassa was additionally ordered to pay restitution and forfeiture of $580,000 and a $1,000 particular evaluation.
Legassa orchestrated a scheme to defraud NESN from December 2020 to January 2022, in keeping with the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In early 2021, Legassa negotiated a contract with a New York firm to offer internet growth providers for NESN. Meanwhile, Legassa created a faux enterprise beneath the identical title as the brand new vendor. He then used this firm to obtain fraudulent funds from NESN.
During the lifetime of the contract between the New York firm and NESN, Legassa created and accredited 11 faux invoices from his faux enterprise whereas approving reliable invoices from the New York firm.
In complete, NESN paid Legassa’s faux firm greater than $500,000. Legassa spent the funds on private bills, together with a personal aircraft, a Tesla, a BMW, a Land Rover and bank card payments. He additionally transferred the funds into different accounts beneath his management.
“Supplementing your paycheck by scamming your employer is a really bad career move,” stated Jodi Cohen, particular agent accountable for the FBI Boston Division. “But Ariel Legassa did precisely that, benefiting from the belief NESN positioned in him to steal over $575,000 which he used to fund a lavish way of life.
“Justice demands that financial fraudsters like Legassa be held accountable for their crimes and today’s sentence ensures that he will pay for what he did with prison time and restitution,” Cohen added.
In November, Legassa was convicted of seven counts of mail fraud and three counts of illegal financial transactions following a five-day jury trial.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”