Robbery of First Fidelity Bank Branch in Oklahoma City

Special Agent in Charge James E. Finch of the Oklahoma City Division of the FBI announces the robbery of the First Fidelity Bank branch at 700 S.W. 29th Street in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
At approximately 4:00 p.m. this afternoon (June 18, 2013), a male entered the bank and approached the teller counter. The subject gave the teller a note demanding money. The teller complied with the demand and the money was placed in a bank envelope. The subject departed the bank with an undisclosed amount of money and was last seen on foot, believed to be heading west.
The subject is described as a white or Hispanic male (possibly light-skinned black male) in his 40s, 5’9”-5’10” tall, with a medium build, black hair, sunglasses, and wearing a black New Orleans Saints shirt and black Houston Astros cap with orange bill and lettering. No weapon was observed or indicated, and no one was injured in today’s robbery.
This robbery is being investigated by the FBI and the Oklahoma City Police Department. Anyone with information is requested to call the FBI at (405) 290-7770 (24-hour number). Callers may remain anonymous. The Oklahoma Banker’s Association offers a reward of up to $2,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest, and/or conviction of anyone robbing a member bank.

Man Arrested in Robbery of J.P. Morgan Chase Bank in Oklahoma City

Special Agent in Charge James E. Finch of the Oklahoma City Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced the robbery of the J.P. Morgan Chase Bank at 7401 S. Walker in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and the arrest of Nolasco Santa Maria Denis, age 31 of Oklahoma City.
At approximately 2:15 p.m. on June 19, 2013, a Hispanic male entered the bank lobby and approached the teller counter. The subject told the teller he had a gun in his pocket (although none was seen) and demanded money. The teller complied with the subject’s demand and gave him an undisclosed amount of money.
Witnesses observed the subject depart the bank and walk across the street to a convenience store. The subject came out of the store with a bag and returned to his vehicle which was parked directly in front of the bank. Oklahoma City Police Officers responded to the robbery call, and as they approached the bank, they observed the individual matching the subject description standing beside the vehicle in front of the bank. The subject, identified as Nolasco Santa Maria Denis, was taken into custody by Oklahoma City Police Officers without incident. Denis will face federal bank robbery charges.
No one was injured in today’s robbery. This robbery is being investigated by the FBI and the Oklahoma City Police Department. The public is reminded an arrest is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Oklahoma City Man to Serve Six Months in Prison for Making Threat to Commit Violence in Wyoming

OKLAHOMA CITY—Today, Glenn Allen Kirkham, 34, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was sentenced by United States District Judge Robin Cauthron to serve six months in prison for making a threat to commit violence in Casper, Wyoming, announced Sanford C. Coats, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.
On January 14, 2013, public officials in and around Casper, Wyoming, received numerous reports from various sources of a threatened attack in Casper using multiple types of weapons. The threat had been posted from Oklahoma City on 4chan.org, an Internet-based bulletin board service. The posting was quickly distributed throughout social media and caused significant concern in the community. The threat came not long after Casper had experienced a homicide/suicide at a local college. As a result of the threat, officials immediately took precautions that included placing 40 schools on lockdown, notifying hospitals and nursing homes, and placing police officers at potential locations of an attack.
Kirkham pled guilty on March 20, 2013. At today’s sentencing hearing, Judge Cauthron noted that even though the defendant had no criminal history and may have viewed the threat as some sort of joke, incarceration was important as a deterrent to those tempted to use the Internet to cause wide-spread fear and disrupt public services.
This case is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Casper Police Department in Wyoming. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark A. Yancey and Scott E. Williams.

Aurora Man Charged with Defrauding His Beachwood Employer and Investment Clients of $366,000

A 10—ount information was filed charging an Aurora, Ohio man with defrauding his Beachwood-based employer and its investment clients out of about $366,000, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and Stephen D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the Cleveland Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Andrew J. Franz, age 41, was charged with three counts of mail fraud, one count of securities fraud, one count of investment adviser fraud, and five counts of income tax evasion.
“This defendant betrayed the trust of his employer and his clients,” Dettelbach said. “He lined his pockets with the money that people worked a lifetime to save.”
Anthony said, “Andrew Franz enriched himself with hundreds of thousands of ill-gotten dollars by creating and carrying out various fraudulent schemes. The FBI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to bring to justice those that steal the hard-earned money of others.”
The first three counts of the information charge that Franz, through his employment and association with the Ruby Corporation (Ruby), a Beachwood investment company, defrauded Ruby and at least 10 of its clients by misappropriating more than $366,000 in customer funds for his own personal use and benefit.
Franz submitted quarterly fee requests to mutual fund and annuity companies for payment of investment advisory fees for Ruby’s clients’ investment accounts. Franz then caused these companies to issue checks by mail to Ruby, which checks Franz intercepted and deposited into bank accounts he maintained and controlled and which funds he used for his own personal use and benefit, according to the information.
Franz submitted some fee requests that were for amounts not due and payable to Ruby, and some fee requests that were for amounts greater than were due and payable to Ruby. Franz also caused mutual fund and annuity companies to send some of these fraudulently obtained fee payments through the mail to his own residence, according to the information.
On some occasions, Franz deposited the funds obtained by his fraudulent fee requests into the accounts of Ruby in an attempt to conceal his fraudulent activity. Franz also contacted a mutual fund company by telephone and, misrepresenting himself as the owner of a trust, caused the mutual fund company to mail payments to Franz’s personal residence. Franz then deposited these checks into bank accounts he maintained and controlled, according to the information.
The information specifically lists three checks, drawn on the accounts of various clients of Ruby, that the Integrity Life Insurance Company sent to Franz’s personal residence between July 20, 2010 and September 7, 2010, as payment for false and fraudulent fee requests that Franz submitted.
Count four charges Franz with securities fraud in using and employing manipulative and deceptive devices and contrivances in connection with the purchase and sale of securities by employing devices, schemes, and artifices to defraud and by engaging in practices which operated as a fraud on investors.
Count five charges Franz with investment adviser fraud in aiding and abetting an investment adviser, namely, Ruby Corporation, in employing a scheme to defraud a client or prospective client and with engaging in a practice which operated as a fraud and deceit upon a client through the use of the mail and instrumentalities of interstate commerce.
Counts six through eight charge that Franz committed income tax evasion for calendar years 2007, 2008, and 2009 by filing false and fraudulent tax returns. Counts nine and 10 charge Franz with income tax evasion for calendar years 2010 and 2011 by failing to make an income tax return as required by law and by conducting his business affairs and personal expenditures in a manner designed to conceal his receipt and disposition of income and assets from the Internal Revenue Service. The total amount of additional tax due and owing by Franz for the tax evasion charged in counts six through 10 is $245,352, according to the information.
An information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any; the defendant’s role in the offense; and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum, and, in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian H. Stickan and Trial Attorney Scott M. Watson, following investigation by agents of the FBI Cleveland Office and IRS-Criminal Investigations, Cleveland Office, with assistance of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Chicago, Illinois.

Three Ashland Residents Arrested for Human Trafficking

Three Ashland residents held a cognitively disabled woman and her child against her will for more than two years and forced her perform manual labor for them, law enforcement officials said.
The conspiracy included beating the disabled woman and her child, threatening the woman with a firearm, threatening to kill the woman and her child, threatening the woman and her child with large snakes, forcing them to sleep in a padlocked room with a large iguana, and other actions, according to charges filed in U.S. District Court.
Jordie L. Callahan, 26; Jessica L. Hunt, 31; and Daniel J. Brown, aka D.J. Brown, 33, were all arrested today and charged with forced labor. Callahan is charged with an additional count of tampering with a witness.
“These defendants violated the victim’s most basic civil right, freedom, by exploiting her most basic instinct, the protection of her child,” said Stephen D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cleveland Office. “The FBI continues to aggressively pursue and bring to justice those individuals who abuse and harm innocent members of our community.”
“We are yet again reminded that modern-day slavery exists all around us,” said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. “One of our nation’s core values is freedom, yet this woman and her child were denied freedom for two years. The victims in this case endured violence, threats, sub-human living conditions, and other horrific acts.”
“The streets are a lot safer with these folks locked up,” Ashland Police Chief David Marcelli said. “Cooperation with the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office was key to the successful arrest of these individuals.”
Ashland County Prosecutor Ramona Rogers said, “We are pleased to cooperate with federal authorities, particularly when it provides for a more severe punishment for these defendants.”
All three are accused of participating in a conspiracy between May 2011 and October 2012 in which they held a woman and her juvenile child in a condition of forced labor and involuntary servitude.
An affidavit from FBI Special Agent Michael Sirohman was filed along with the charges.
The victims in this case are identified only as S.E. and her juvenile child. S.E. suffered from a cognitive disability and received monthly public assistance payments, according to the affidavit.
Callahan and Hunt recruited S.E. and her child to live with them in their two-bedroom apartment in Ashland. Hunt’s four juvenile sons also lived at the house, along with numerous pit bull dogs, large snakes, and other reptiles, according to the affidavit.
Callahan and Hunt monitored S.E. and her child’s activities with a baby monitor, according to the affidavit.
Hunt was in possession of all of S.E.’s government benefits cards and the PINs. Hunt normally used nearly all the money on the cards and rarely gave any money to S.E., according to the affidavit.
Callahan and Hunt forced S.E. to clean the house, do laundry, walk to the store to do their shopping, and care for their numerous pit bulls and reptiles. S.E. was timed when she went to the store and was not allowed to bring her child with her, according to the affidavit.
Callahan and Hunt beat S.E. and her child, threatened their lives, denied them food, and threatened them with the pit bulls and reptiles, according to the affidavit.
At various points, Callahan threated S.E. with a gun. S.E. and her child initially were forced to sleep on a cement floor in the basement with no mattress. Later, they were moved to a room upstairs, again with no bed or mattress. The child was kept in the room all day, and at night the room was padlocked to keep S.E. and her child from escaping, according to the affidavit.
S.E. and her child were only allowed to eat canned food or what was left over after Callahan, Hunt, and Hunt’s children ate. S.E. was not allowed to feed fruit or vegetables to her child, but Callahan and Hunt ordered S.E. to feed fruit and vegetables to the iguana that freely roamed in their bedroom. On another occasion, S.E. said her child had not eaten all day, but Callahan got a plate of food and gave it to a dog rather than letting them eat, according to the affidavit.
Callahan and Hunt also repeatedly taunted and threatened S.E. and B.E. with injury from the couple’s snakes, including a poisonous coral snake, a ball phython, and a Burmese python that weighed 130 pounds, according to the affidavit.
In August 2011, the conspirators slammed S.E.’s hand with a rock in order to obtain pain medication. She was taken to the emergency room and returned with a prescription for pain medication, according to the affidavit.
In December 2011, Callahan and Hunt injured S.E.’s back and then forced her to turn over the prescription for Vicodin she received for her back injury, according to the affidavit.
On another occasion, Callahan kicked S.E. in the hip, and then he and Hunt forced S.E.to turn over the prescription for Vicodin she received for her hip injury, according to the affidavit.
When S.E. attempted to flee the apartment, Brown deceived S.E. into accompanying them in their vehicle and returned her to Callahan and Hunt’s apartment, according to the affidavit.
In October 2011, Callahan and Hunt forced S.E. to hit her child, threatening to inflict much greater physical harm on both if S.E. did not do so. Callahan and Hunt used Callahan’s mobile phone to record S.E. purportedly abusing her child via the baby monitor.
About a year later, S.E. was arrested for shoplifting a candy bar. She asked to be taken to jail and said she was living with Callahan and Hunt and that they “were mean to her,” according to the affidavit.
A police officer went to Callahan and Hunt’s apartment. When the officer advised Callahan that S.E. would not return, Callahan told police he believed S.E. was abusing her child and showed them the mobile phone video from October 2011.
S.E. later told police that Callahan had showed her video recordings of her beating her child after being instructed to do so by Callahan and Hunt. Callahan told S.E. that if she “messed up” or told police about her living conditions, Callahan would show the videos to police and have her daughter taken away, according to the affidavit.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Chelsea Rice and Thomas E. Getz, following an investigation by the FBI and Ashland Police Department and assistance from the Ashland County Prosecutor’s Office.
If convicted, the defendants’ sentences will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record (if any), the defendant’s role in the offenses, and the characteristics of the violations. In all cases, the sentences will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases they will be less than the maximum.
A charge is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The investigation is ongoing.

Anthony O. Calabrese, III Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison on Racketeering, Bribery Charges Related to Cuyahoga County Corruption

Anthony O. Calabrese, III was sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to pay more than $200,000 for his role in a series of bribery schemes involving Jimmy Dimora, Frank Russo, J. Kevin Kelley, and others uncovered as part of the Cuyahoga County corruption investigation, federal law enforcement officials said.
“Anthony Calabrese misused his status as an attorney to facilitate bribes and foster corruption,” said Stephen D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cleveland Office. “Today’s sentence reflects the fact that Calabrese was deeply involved in a variety of bribery schemes involving a school district, a halfway house, and the infamous trip to Las Vegas, just to name a few.”
“His criminal conduct spanned his entire legal career,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Antoinette Bacon said in court.
Calabrese, 40, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, previously pleaded guilty to 18 counts which detail improper payments of nearly $550,000. The counts include racketeering; conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services fraud; Hobbs Act conspiracy; bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds; conspiracy to commit mail fraud; and mail fraud.
U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi sentenced Calabrese to 108 months in prison and ordered him to pay $132,041 in restitution—$120,970 to Cuyahoga County and $11,071 to Parma schools. Calabrese has already forfeited $74,450
The racketeering charge involves conduct that took place between 2001 and 2009 in which Calabrese gave things of value to public officials and their designees in return for public officials taking and promising to take official action that benefitted Calabrese, Law Firm 1 (where Calabrese was an associate and partner), their clients, and designees, according court documents.
Specifically, Calabrese participated in a scheme in which he and Cuyahoga County employee J. Kevin Kelley helped obtain tax exempt status for the property leased by Alternatives Agency around January 2004, according to court documents.
In September 2004, after a tax refund check was issued to Alternatives Agency for $144,216.26, Calabrese instructed Alternative Agency to issue a check to Business 45 for $72,000 and classify the expense as consulting, despite Calabrese knowing that Business 45 performed no consulting services for Alternatives Agency to justify the expense, according to the indictment.
Business 45, in turn, issued checks payable to Calabrese for $31,500 and to J. Kevin Kelley Consulting LLC for $35,500. Business 45 kept the remaining $5,000, according to the indictment.
In another scheme, Calabrese lobbied Kelley (a member of the Parma School Board) and other members of the Parma School Board in January 2005 to contract with Business 9 to serve as project manager for a renovation project. Business 9 was a construction company that specialized in stone and brick masonry and was a client of Law Firm 1, according to court documents.
In September 2005, the Parma School Board, with Kelley voting in favor, awarded a contract worth $1.8 million to Business 9, according to court documents.
Calabrese and Kelley arranged for Business 9 to hire The Eagle Group, a consulting company formed by Daniel P. Gallagher. In August 2009, Business 9 sent a check for $15,000 to Eagle. Gallagher then paid a portion of that money to Kelley and Kevin Payne, according to court documents.
Other conduct detailed in court documents includes Calabrese, Kelley, Brian Schuman, former Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank P. Russo, and former Cuyahoga County Commissioner James C. Dimora conspiring to increase the funding for Alternatives Agency.
In or around January 2008, Calabrese, who served as legal counsel for Alternatives Agency, instructed Schuman, an employee of Alternatives Agency, to increase Kelley’s monthly consulting fee by $2,000 for four months for the purpose of funding expenses associated with a Las Vegas trip for Dimora, Russo, and Public Employee 55, according to court documents.
In or around 2003, Prudoff began receiving payments from Alternatives Agency on a monthly basis, purportedly for consulting work. When BE39 informed Calabrese that Alternatives Agency received no work product from Prudoff, Calabrese told BE39 that Prudoff was consulting on a Lorain expansion project, according to court documents.
BE39 questioned why Alternatives Agency was paying Prudoff, since he was the community development director for Lorain and it would be within his job requirements to assist companies such as Alternatives Agency, who were interested in developing facilities in Lorain. Calabrese insisted that BE39 continue to cause Alternatives to pay Prudoff, according to court documents.
Calabrese did not inform the Alternatives board about the payments for consultants on a Lorain expansion project and the board did not approve payments to any such consultant, according to court documents.
In or around June 2005, Calabrese told BE39 that Prudoff had some issues arise and Prudoff’s monthly payment should be issued to Relative 2, who was related to Prudoff’s girlfriend, according to court documents.
In or around July 2005, Calabrese and Prudoff assisted Relative 2 in forming Business 46. On or about July 25, 2005, Alternatives Agency began issuing checks to Business 46 for approximately $4,000 on a monthly basis, according to court documents.
Prudoff provided favorable consideration to Calabrese and his designees on business matter unrelated to Alternatives Agency in return and in exchange for the consulting fees that Calabrese caused Prudoff and Business 46 to receive from Alternatives, according to court documents.
In another case, Business 43 was incorporated in the state of Ohio in March 2005, and Calabrese’s relative (Relative 1) was the registered agent for the company. Calabrese caused Alternatives to engage Business 43’s services but concealed from Alternatives his relative’s relationship to Business 43 and did not disclose to them that Relative 1 performed little or no work for Alternatives to justify the fees paid, according to court documents.
In or around 2002, Calabrese influence Alternatives to hire A.C. Sinagra and Associates. In January 2006, A.C. Sinagra and Associated entered into a contract setting a monthly consulting fee at approximately $1,500, according to court documents.
In March 2006, Calabrese and Sinagra agreed that Calabrese would cause Alternatives to increase its payments to A.C. Sinagra and Associates, and Sinagra would use the additional funds to pay persons or entities identified by Calabrese in the amounts Calabrese designated, according to court documents.
Calabrese first suggested Sinagra make consulting payments to Relative 1 through Business 43. He later asked Sinagra to pay Calabrese through Burlwood Holdings, an LLC formed in 2004 and controlled by Calabrese, according to court documents.
Calabrese also asked Sinagra to pay Relative 2, and Sinagra agreed to both requests. Sinagra performed no legitimate work for Alternatives to justify the increase in his fee, according to court documents.
In May 2006, Alternatives increased Sinagra’s monthly fee from $1,500 to approximately $6,000. In May 2006, A.C. Sinagra Company issued a check to Relative 2 for $2,000 and Berlwood Holdings [sic] for $2,000. This continued through November 2007, according to court documents.
In sum, Calabrese caused Alternatives to make payments to Prudoff and Relative 2 between July 2003 and March 2006 totaling approximately $144,000, according to court documents.
Calabrese caused Alternatives to make payments to Business 43 between March 2005 and March 2006 totaling approximately $12,950, according to court documents.
Calabrese caused Alternatives to make payments to A.C. Sinagra and Associates between January 2002 and November 2007 totaling approximately $190,500, according to court documents.
Calabrese caused Alternatives to make payments to J. Kevin Kelley Consulting between October 2004 and August 2008 totaling approximately $201,473, according to court documents.
Regarding count 9, Relative 1’s brother was Attorney 6. Attorney 7 was Calabrese’s relative and formerly related to Relative 1. On or about February 2, 2009, Calabrese told BE39 that Calabrese and Attorney 7 had met with Attorney 6. Calabrese asked BE39 to meet with Attorney 6, according to the indictment.
BE39 met with Attorney 6 on February 2, 2009. Attorney 6 told BE39 that Calabrese and Attorney 7 wanted Attorney 6 to meet with BE39 to go over the script, according to court documents.
Attorney 6 instructed BE39 that if anyone questioned BE39 about Relative 1, BE39 should say that BE40 and BE39 hired Relative 1 to work out of her home to help with the Lorain expansion, which Calabrese and BE39 knew was not true, according to court documents.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Antoinette T. Bacon and Nancy L. Kelley. The investigation was conducted by the Cleveland Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service.

Former Computer Company CEO Fined $5 Million and Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Conspiracy, Securities Fraud, Money Laundering

CINCINNATI—Michael E. Peppel, 46, former chief executive officer of MCSi Inc., a computer sales company formerly headquartered in Dayton, was sentenced in U.S. District Court here today to two years in prison, followed by three years of court supervision, for engaging in a deliberate scheme to defraud millions of dollars from company investors by improperly reporting company revenues. He was also fined $5 million.
Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Kevin R. Cornelius, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cincinnati Field Division (FBI); Kathy Enstrom, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS); and Christopher T. White, Assistant Inspector in Charge, Cincinnati Field Office, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, announced the sentence handed down today by Senior U.S. District Judge Sandra S. Beckwith.
Peppel pleaded guilty in August 2010 to one count each of conspiracy, securities fraud, and money laundering.
Peppel falsified company accounting records and financial statements to mislead investors about the company’s dire financial situation. “Through his calculated conduct, Mr. Peppel undermined the core principle upon which American equity markets and investors rely—the need for complete, accurate, and truthful information,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dwight Keller and Brent Tabacchi wrote in a filing with the court prior to sentencing.
Peppel was ordered to forfeit three pieces of real property, the contents of bank and investment accounts, a $20,000 Italian oil painting, and a $9,000 Italian bronze sculpture that represent the proceeds traceable to the crimes.
MCSi called itself North America’s premier reseller of advanced integrated computer technology and visual communications products for business, government and educational institutions. MCSi was formerly listed on the NASDAQ stock market, until it was delisted in April 2003. In 2001, the firm’s annual sales exceeded $810 million, it maintained offices at 160 locations, had 50,000 clients, and had over 1,300 employees. In 2003, it filed for bankruptcy.
Stewart commended the efforts of the agents and investigators of the IRS, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and FBI for their in-depth investigation into this matter and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dwight Keller and Brent Tabacchi, who represented the United States in the case.