SANTA MONICA—An FBI investigation has resulted in the arrest of two men who allegedly cheated Santa Monica-based firm Lionsgate Entertainment out of $2 million.
Roccio James Cuccia, 31, from Downey, and Larry D. Collins, 50, from Northridge, were arrested on Friday, March 23. They were charged in a 14-count indictment that had been returned by a federal grand jury the day before.
http://liarcatchers.com/fraud_investigation.html
The indictment includes allegations of wire fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion.
According to the indictment, Cuccia, who began working as a senior buyer for Lionsgate in 2006, used Collins as a vendor to supply display cases for the entertainment company’s products in retail stores.
The pair allegedly devised a scheme in which Cuccia used Liongate’s computer system to inflate the number of approved display cases, while Collins generated fraudulent invoices for the inflated purchase orders.
Lionsgate sent payments for the inflated orders to a third party, who wired a substantial portion of the funds to Collins. Collins then wired some of the money to Cuccia’s bank account. The indictment alleges that the scheme cost Lionsgate losses of approximately $2,064,000.
The two men were caught following a multi-agency investigation involving the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Santa Monica Police Department.
Santa Monica Police spokesman Sgt. Richard Lewis said that the department took the initial report about the alleged kickback scheme.
“As we began investigating, we realized that there was the potential for substantial dollar loss, so we contacted the FBI,” he said.
“They decided to take the case, so we passed it onto them.”
Sgt. Lewis added that Santa Monica Police assisted with the arrests of Cuccia and Collins on Friday, March 23. He was unable to comment on the circumstances that led to the initial investigation into the two men.
Cuccia and Collins have each been charged with 10 counts of wire fraud. In addition, Cuccia is charged with two counts of conducting a monetary transaction in criminally derived property of a value greater than $10,000 and two counts of subscribing to false tax returns.
Federal agents also confiscated a 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid and a 2006 Mercedes Benz R350 belonging to Cuccia, which they believe were purchased using some of the funds.
If convicted of all charges, Cuccia faces a maximum sentence of 226 years in federal prison, and Collins faces 200 years in federal prison.
