Press Release
GAMBINO FAMILY MEMBER AND OTHERSSENTENCED FOR RACKETEERING
December 17, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Division, and Betty N. Stewart, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, announced that defendants Vincent F. Artuso, John Vincent Artuso, Gregory Orr, and Philip Edward Forgione were sentenced on December 16, 2008 in Miami by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks, following their October 3, 2008 convictions on racketeering charges.
Vincent F. Artuso and John Vincent Artuso were each sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 108 months, supervised release for a period of three years, and restitution in the amount of $5,814,664. Gregory Orr received a term of imprisonment of 87 months, supervised release for a period of three years, and restitution in the amount of $5,814,664. Philip Edward Forgione received a 78-month term of imprisonment, supervised release for a period of three years, and restitution in the amount of $4,833, 477. All four defendants were ordered to forfeit the proceeds of the fraud, including the four properties, the companies that had been used as fronts in the fraud, and bank accounts. Further proceedings will be conducted regarding the forfeitures.
The two Artusos and Orr were convicted of all forty-one charges against them, including RICO conspiracy, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1962(d); nine counts of mail fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341; fifteen counts of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section, 1343; money laundering conspiracy, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(h); and fifteen counts of substantive money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(a)(1)(B)(I). Forgione was convicted of everything except the substantive money laundering charges.
According to the evidence presented at trial, Vincent Artuso, a captain of the Gambino Organized Crime Family, supervised and directed members of an enterprise, a south Florida faction of the Gambino Organized Crime Family, which included his son, John Vincent Artuso, Gregory Orr, Philip Edward Forgione and William Larry Horton, in the commission of various frauds against ADT Security Services, Inc., a subsidiary of Tyco International Ltd.
Horton, who has been separately convicted and sentenced, was Vice President of Planning and Implementation at ADT. He participated with the other defendants in defrauding ADT of millions of dollars for the benefit of the criminal enterprise. Horton’s employer had directed him to sell several ADT office buildings and lease back the property for ADT. In furtherance of the fraud against ADT, Horton sold three of ADT’s office buildings to companies owned by the Artusos, Orr and Forgione, and a fourth building to companies owned by the Artusos and Orr. Although Horton represented the seller (ADT), unbeknownst to ADT, he was also a partner with the buyers. Horton sold the multi-million dollar properties to the defendants far below fair market value and then immediately leased them back to ADT at a cost substantially above fair market value. Thereafter, the monthly lease payments made by ADT were paid to the limited liability companies formed by the defendants for the purpose of concealing their ownership interests, including Horton’s ownership interest. Millions of dollars in lease payments made by ADT were then divided among the defendants. In this way, the defendants defrauded ADT of in excess of 6 million dollars over a period of five years.
Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service in successfully concluding this complex five-year fraud investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys William T. Shockley and J. Brian McCormick.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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