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Escambia County Printing Business Owner Sentenced On Federal Charges For Fake Invoices
August 22, 2020
An Escambia County printing company owner has been sentenced on federal charges.
United States Attorney Lawrence Keefe, of the Northern District of Florida, said business owner Gerald Mandel, 52, was sentenced to three years’ probation on federal charges of theft of government money and submitting false claims for overpayment to the United States. Mandel, owner and operator of DLUX Printing, in Pensacola, filed approximately nine fraudulent invoices to the Government Publishing Office (GPO), resulting in over $47,000 of fraudulent payments. In addition to probation Mandel was ordered to pay full restitution as well as a $25,000 fine, for a total of $72,255.48.
“Gerald Mandel took advantage of the control he had over the direct mail services process to steal almost 50,000 taxpayer dollars from the federal government,” said Keefe. “His sentencing today sends a message that we expect, and demand, our government employees and contractors act with integrity and follow the law. Greed will not go unchecked in the Northern District of Florida.”
Mandel submitted approximately 115 invoices to GPO for payment between January 1, 2013, and May 15, 2018. According to the GPO’s Office of Inspector General, 33 of those invoices were submitted for direct mail services. Contracts for direct mail services require the contractor to print items for a government agency and then mail the majority of those items directly to individual consumers. Mandel schemed to receive overpayment for direct mail contracts by printing only about half the number of items ordered by the consumer. Mandel then falsified shipping documents to reflect that the orders were actually complete so that he would receive full payment from the GPO. Investigators identified 11 shipments containing falsified mailing documents which Mandel used to file nine fraudulent invoices.
“The Government Publishing Office, Office of Inspector General is committed to ensuring the integrity of GPO contracts and financial expenditures,” said Inspector General Michael P. Leary. “We take allegations of false claims, overbilling and theft of government funds very seriously and will aggressively investigate these matters to ensure efficiency and effectiveness throughout GPO programs. We appreciate the efforts of the DOJ in pursuing these allegations and will continue our collaboration with the DOJ to investigative those who seek to defraud agency programs.”
Comments
15 Responses to “Escambia County Printing Business Owner Sentenced On Federal Charges For Fake Invoices”
He made a mistake. No one is perfect. Stop bashing him. He didn’t sugarcoat the lawyer or the judge. Alot of us are glad he didn’t go to prison
I received 3 yrs probation for theft of over 300 dollars and now am a convicted felon because of it. This guy gets 3 years for this man the system is flawed for sure. And now I cant even protect my family during these crazy times because of that mistake.
Don’t underestimate the severity of sentence. The $ will be paid in 36 months to prevent violation. I would be willing to wager, the next federal hurdle is IRS deficiencies.
And people for none violent crimes for drugs not have drugs just talking about gets 10 years or more wow but stealing government money is no problem slap on the wrist.
I cannot believe they didn’t give him plenty of time in the Fed PRISON for stealing Fed Funds that belongs to all the taxpayers. And, all the Seniors worrying about our Health insurance Medicare going bankrupt and worrying that the government is going to stop our Social Security when some us only have it for our major income. Cannot believe they gave him probation ! He should be punished in a big way, sounds like there is a glitz in the justice system ex: crooked lawyers and judge. Maybe they need investigating? Any other crook stealing from the Government would have been given 25 years in prison or more, for stealing as much as he has. And; they have been investigating him for 6 years. Something is rotten somewhere !
We have to review blue collar crime sentencing rules and remove this JUDGE!
Last year I hired this company to print and mail a report to 1,000 customers. Instead of our report, they mailed instructions on how to install a garage door opener. They did correct their mistake and mail the correct report but we still had to answer about 400 phone calls about it. Maybe their illegal activities distracted hem from doing their legitimate business.
WOW! Just think of the many years of law violations some get away with before getting caught. This is such a shame.
They investigated him from 2013 to 2018.
Came up with $72,000.
3 year probation. We got people in government taking vacation with a virus hunger, can’t pay rent, can’t get mail and medicine. What a country…
They will never get another government contract again.
Here I sit waiting on my income tax refund and my stimulus check!
Maybe if he would have tried to pass off a counterfeit twenty, Rafael Lopez.
Good to have friends in High Places.
I now know why he has not paid my company for the work we did.
Scenario: Steal 1000 dollars from his business after he would have pressed charges and I’m sure that criminal would get some county time. But he steals from our government and pays for a nice lawyer and gets him probation. Great defense lawyer right there or evidence of a jacked up justice system. Nobody likes a thief… except maybe the judge in this situation.