Medical Receptionist Steals $446,000 from Boss, Evades Taxes, Goes to Prison

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1 Medical Receptionist Steals $446,000 from Boss, Evades Taxes, Goes to Prison NEWARK, NJ A former receptionist employed by a medical office in Kearny, New Jersey, was sentenced today to two years and 10 months in prison for embezzling more than $446,000 from her former employer, using fraudulent credit cards to obtain more than $200,000 in goods and services and evading taxes on that illegal income, officials said. Gwendolyn Muller, 53, formerly of Kearny, previously plead guilty before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini to one count each of embezzlement, credit card fraud and tax evasion. In addition to the prison term, Judge Martini sentenced Muller to three years of supervised release and ordered her to pay restitution of $556,000. According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, these are the facts and circumstances: From 2007 through 2011, Muller used her position at the medical practice to take, cash, and conceal more than $446,000 in checks paid by insurance companies to the medical practice for services to patients. At various times during this same period, Muller also fraudulently obtained 10 credit cards in the name of a principal of the medical practice and used those cards to charge more than $218,000 in goods and services a portion of which Muller paid for with embezzled funds.

2 Muller also admitted to filing a false tax return to evade the payment of taxes on this illegally obtained income. Georgia Cop Pleads Guilty to Selling Access to Sensitive Police Data ATLANTA Former Dunwoody Police Detective Robert Pasquale Bentivegna has pleaded guilty to disclosing sensitive law enforcement information in exchange for receiving kickbacks for him and his family, federal officials said. It is a sad day when a career law enforcement officer turns his back on decades of public service by selling his access to sensitive law enforcement information, said Acting U.S. Attorney John Horn. Bentivegna s conduct undermines trust in law enforcement and could have exposed the public to significant harm. In exchange for information, officials said over the course of approximately 18 months, Bentivegna received airline tickets for himself and his wife to travel to New York, his daughter received a convertible car which she used for over a year, and his son received a car to drive for a period of time. Bentivegna, 64, of Woodstock, Georgia, pleaded guilty to computer fraud for accessing information in the Georgia Crime Information Center or CIC database for an improper purpose.

3 He is scheduled to be sentenced in June. According to Acting U.S. Attorney Horn, these are the charges and other information presented in court: In July 2011, Bentivegna, a career law enforcement officer employed at the time with the Dunwoody, Georgia, Police Department and who had also served as a federal task force officer, began using an individual connected with a variety of illegal activities as a confidential informant. In exchange for valuable personal items for himself and his family, Bentivegna performed searches and informed the confidential informant about any active arrest warrants listed under the informant s name in the GCIC database. Such information can be valuable information to criminals, allowing them to flee before authorities can arrest them. Photo by AJC.com

4 Alaska Man Convicted of Sexually Exploiting Cambodian Children and Arranging Child Sex Tourism ALASKA An Anchorage, Alaska, man was convicted Monday for sexually exploiting children in Cambodia over the course of four years and attempting to arrange a child sex tourism trip for himself and others to Cambodia, officials said. Jason Jayavarman, 45, is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date, authorities said. Jayavarman, who has been in custody since his arrest, faces a sentence from 15 years to 60 years in prison. He will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, according to officials. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. The evidence at trial detailed a trip that Jayavarman had planned for himself and others to Cambodia for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with children as young as 12 years old, officials said. Unbeknownst to Jayavarman, one of the individuals was an undercover FBI agent, officials said. The evidence presented at trial established that Jayavarman

5 had produced multiple videos of himself engaging in sexual acts with a child in Cambodia over the course of 12 trips between 2010 and his arrest in Jayavarman then transported the recordings back to the United States, authorities said. According to the evidence presented at trial, Jayavarman explained to the undercover agent how to groom a child for sex,how to avoid law enforcement and how to record high quality mementos of the sexual activity. Jayavarman s child exploitation activities came to light following a concerned citizen s anonymous tip. Former Bechtel Corp. V.P. Sent to Prison for Accepting $5.2 Million in Kickbacks WASHINGTON D.C. The former principal vice president of Bechtel Corporation and general manager of a joint venture operated by Bechtel and an Egyptian utility company was sentenced today to three years and six months in prison for accepting $5.2 million in kickbacks to manipulate the competitive bidding process for state-run power contracts in Egypt.

6 Asem Elgawhary Asem Elgawhary, 73, of Potomac, Maryland, pleaded guilty on Dec. 4, 2014, to mail fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and obstruction and interference with the administration of the tax laws, officials said. U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow of the District of Maryland also ordered Elgawhary to forfeit $5.2 million, according to authorities. From 1996 to 2011, Elgawhary was assigned by Bechtel a U.S. corporation engaged in engineering, construction and project management to be the general manager at Power Generation Engineering and Services Company or PGESCo, a joint venture between Bechtel and Egypt s state-owned and state-controlled electricity company, known as EEHC, officials said. PGESCo assisted EEHC in identifying possible subcontractors, soliciting bids and awarding contracts to perform power projects for EEHC, according to authorities. According to his plea agreement, Elgawhary admitted to the following: Accepting a total of $5.2 million from three power companies, which they paid to secure a competitive and unfair advantage in the bidding process. One of the power companies, Alstom S.A., together with a Swiss subsidiary, pleaded guilty on Dec. 22, 2014, to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with a scheme to pay bribes to foreign officials, including Elgawhary, in various countries.

7 As Elgawhary admitted in his plea agreement, he attempted to conceal the kickback scheme by routing the payments through various off-shore bank accounts, including Swiss bank accounts, under his control. Elgawhary also sent various documents and Representation Letters to Bechtel executives and members of the PGESCo Board of Directors, falsely certifying that he had no knowledge or suspicion of any fraud at PGESCo. He also stated that there were no possible violations of law or regulations that should have been considered for disclosure in PGESCo s financial statements. Elgawhary also admitted that, in a further attempt to conceal the scheme, he made misrepresentations to counsel for Bechtel when he was interviewed in April Elgawhary further admitted to obstructing and interfering with tax laws by failing to report any of the kickback payments as income for the tax years 2008 through 2011 and providing false information about foreign bank accounts. Elgawhary, a dual U.S. and Egyptian citizen, was arrested on a criminal complaint when he flew into the United States on Nov. 26, 2013, and was indicted on Feb. 10, 2014.