THREE INDIVIDUALS PLEAD GUILTY TO CONSPIRACY CHARGES
IN PRINTING/GRAPHICS INDUSTRY

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The owner of a New York office supplies company and two former purchasing agents pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit mail fraud charges arising out of embezzlement and kickback schemes, the Department of Justice announced.

The three individuals--Leonard N. Weiss of New City, New York, Paul G. Einstman of Norwalk, Connecticut, and Vincent L. Murphy of Freehold, New Jersey--each pleaded guilty to separate one-count charges today filed in U.S. District Court in White Plains, New York.

Weiss is the owner of Parchment & Chrome Inc., a vendor of office supplies and business forms located in Nanuet, New York. Einstman was a former purchasing agent of Greenwich Capital Markets Inc., a financial services company headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut. Murphy was a former purchasing agent of MOL (America) Inc., formerly known as Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (America) (MOL), an international shipping company with offices in Edison, New Jersey. Both Einstman and Murphy had responsibility for ordering and purchasing office supplies, and were customers of Parchment & Chrome.

According to the charges, Weiss caused Parchment & Chrome to fraudulently overbill Greenwich Capital Markets and MOL for materials that were never shipped. Murphy and Einstman falsely certified that the materials had been received, and caused their employers to pay Parchment & Chrome. After Parchment & Chrome received payment, Weiss divided the money with Einstman and Murphy. The court papers state that between mid-1998 and April 2002, Parchment & Chrome overbilled Greenwich Capital Markets by approximately $240,000, and Weiss paid approximately

$120,000 to Einstman in the form of cash, airline tickets, and automobiles. In addition, between September 1997 and March 2002, Parchment & Chrome overbilled MOL by approximately $80,000, and Weiss paid approximately $40,000 to Murphy in the form of cash, entertainment tickets, and payments for automobile leases and housing expenses.

Weiss, Einstman, and Murphy are charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, which carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment, three years’ supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victim of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine. In addition, each defendant is subject to pay restitution to any victim for the full amount of that victim's loss.

The ongoing investigation of the advertising and printing/graphic industries is being conducted by the Antitrust Division's New York Field Office, with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Anyone with information concerning bid rigging, bribery, tax offenses, or fraud in the advertising and printing/graphics industries should contact the New York Field Office of the Antitrust Division at (212) 264-9308 or the New York Division of the FBI at (212) 384-2219.

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