CINCINNATI - Angelo W. DeSimone, 48, of Tampa, Florida, formerly a resident of northern Kentucky, was sentenced to 37 months imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $370,828.55 in restitution to the IRS for leading a scheme to embezzle money from RAC, Inc., which owned as many as eight Burger King restaurants in the Cincinnati area.

Gregory G. Lockhart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Cromwell A. Handy, Special Agent in Charge, IRS-Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office; and Kevin R. Brock, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Cincinnati Division, announced the sentence handed down today by United States Senior District Judge Herman J. Weber.

DeSimone pled guilty on February 21, 2003 to leading a five-year scheme by employees to embezzle funds from the owner of Burger King restaurants in the greater Cincinnati area and not report the embezzled funds to the IRS.

DeSimone was the Managing Director running the day-to-day operations for RAC, Inc, the owner of the restaurants, which discovered the conspiracy in 2001. DeSimone admitted that from 1996 to 2000 he committed bank fraud when he deposited to his personal bank account 101 rebate checks worth $442,387.69 which were payable to his employer and used the money for his personal expenses. He also admitted that from 1996 to 2001 he caused at least $882,000 in cash to be skimmed from sales at the restaurants and shared by himself and other employees. He also pled guilty to attempted tax evasion for failing to report his income and helping others not to report their income from the embezzlement.

Lockhart commended the IRS Criminal Investigation and FBI for their cooperative investigation of the case.