U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
OFFICE OF THE U.S. ATTORNEY
DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA

PRESS RELEASE.  Thursday, February 13, 2003

Contact: Thomas B. Heffelfinger, United States Attorney (612) 664-5600
Karen Bailey, Media Coordinator (612) 664-5610
Frank Magill, Assistant United States Attorney (612) 664-5600

St. Paul, MN  - The former chief financial officer of Shakopee-based LaserQuipt, Inc. was sentenced today in United States District Court for forging securities and filing false federal income tax returns.  Raafat B. Khalil, age 40, of Burnsville, was sentenced to 57 months in prison and ordered to pay approximately $1.8 million in restitution by Judge Richard Kyle in St. Paul.  The judge’s sentence was at the top of the applicable guidelines range.

During his guilty plea hearing in October 2002, Khalil admitted that the individual federal tax return he filed for calendar year 1998 failed to include income in the amount of $625,800 which he obtained illegally from LaserQuipt, Inc.  In addition, Khalil admitted that he forged a LaserQuipt security in the amount of $7,964.38 for his personal use.  Khalil also admitted that between 1995 and 1999, he defrauded LaserQuipt of approximately $1.8 million. LaserQuipt recycled printer cartridges. Khalil’s embezzlement was discovered during the period of time he was building a 10,000 square foot home in Inver Grove Heights.

The case is the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Assistant United States Attorney Frank Magill prosecuted the case.

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