Fraud SCAMS AND SHAMS BUSH LEAGUE LIE MICKEY MOUSE DEAL Ex-Blue Jays pitcher sidesteps slammer
RETIRED MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER TED LILLY, 39, pleaded no contest to insurance fraud charges in California earlier this year, accepting a plea deal to avoid the offence’s maximum penalty of five years imprisonment. Lilly bought insurance for his recreational vehicle last March, and four days later made a claim for damages to the RV. Investigators found that the vehicle had been in a collision before Lilly insured it; he even requested a repair estimate from a body shop five days before purchasing the coverage. The two-time all-star southpaw, who pitched for Montreal, Oakland, Toronto, the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs and LA Dodgers, must pay a US$2,500 fine, serve two years of probation and perform 250 hours of community service. — Tamar Satov
WHEELS OF JUSTICE Lance Armstrong owes $10M
in fraud dispute FALLEN SPORTS HERO Lance Armstrong must pay his former promotions company US$10 million for lying about his use of performance-enhancing drugs. Dallas-based SCA Promotions sued the discredited cyclist to recoup millions of dollars in bonus money it paid to Armstrong for his career victories, including seven Tour de France titles from 1999 to 2005, following his 2013 admission that he cheated. Armstrong, who has since been stripped of those titles, is also facing a US$100 million fraud suit by the US government. “Perjury must never be profitable,” wrote the Texas arbitration panel in its decision. — TS
54 | CPA MAGAZINE | MAY 2015
Magic Kingdom hype was just hocus-pocus HE CONVINCED TEXAS real estate investors that a new Disney theme park would make their dreams come true. But Thomas Lucas Jr. lied like Pinocchio, duping more than 100 victims out of US$60 million from 2006 to 2010. Convicted on seven counts of wire fraud and one of making false statements to the FBI, Lucas, 35, used fake renderings, maps and site plans of “Frontier Disney” in Dallas-Fort Worth to dupe investors into buying worthless properties surrounding the supposed theme park site. Lucas earned nearly US$450,000 in real estate sales commissions and fees before investors copped on to the outland- ish tale in 2010 when the park still had not been built. It’s an unhappy ending for them and Lucas, who is awaiting sentencing and faces up to 20 years in jail. — TS
FAILURE TO DECLARE
Pay tax on pilfered funds, says IRS
IF SHE HAD ONLY GIVEN THE TAXMAN its share of the money she stole, Rebecca Hoff could have avoided a 15-month prison sentence. Between 2004 and 2010, the 63-year-old Michigan-based accounts payable manager embezzled US$1.1 million from her employer, T.A. Solberg Co., owner of a Wisconsin chain of grocery stores. While the company did not press charges against Hoff for the theſt, the IRS took her to court for tax avoidance, alleging she should have declared the stash as earnings and paid more than US$302,000 in additional income tax. She pleaded guilty to the tax charges in December. — TS
John Williamson/stringer/Getty Images
Laurent Rebours/AP/Canadian Press
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