Former Controller of New England School of Law Pleads Guilty to Stealing Nearly $200,000 from the Law School

BOSTON—A Lynnfield man pled guilty today in federal court to an information charging him with accessing a protected computer to defraud and obtain value, under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and creating forged checks.

DOUGLAS LEMAN, 44, pled guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton. The prosecutor told the court at today’s hearing that had the case proceeded to trial, the evidence would have proven that, between September 2008 and March 2011, when he was terminated, LEMAN took advantage of his position as Controller at New England School of Law (NESL) by entering the school’s accounting system and manipulating the entries in order to generate checks payable to himself and his wife. Over the course of the two and a half years of his fraud, LEMAN created checks totaling $173,106. LEMAN “signed” each of these fraudulent checks using the signature stamps of authorized NESL employees. He later reentered the school’s accounting system and create additional false entries to conceal his activities.

LEMAN faces up to 10 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $356,213.42 fine. He will also be required to make full restitution in the approximate amount of $173,106.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Division; and Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Harman Burkart of Ortiz’s Cybercrime Unit.