Three New Jersey Men Sentenced to Prison or Probation for Stealing $1.4 Million from New York-Based Defense Contractor
Employees’ Pensions and Life Insurance Policies Looted
| U.S. Attorney’s Office July 25, 2013 |
TRENTON, NJ—A former insurance agent for a New York-based defense contractor and his two friends were sentenced today to prison terms or probation for stealing $1.4 million from the company, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Daniel Tumminia, 51, of Millstone, New Jersey, and Michael Feuer, 49, of Freehold, New Jersey, were each sentenced to one year in prison; Dennis Mannarino, 46, of Manalapan, New Jersey, was sentenced to three years of probation.
All three defendants previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano to separate informations charging them with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Judge Pisano imposed the sentences today in Trenton federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Fastener Dimensions (Fastener) was a New York-based manufacturer and distributor of aircraft, aerospace, and military components and hardware. Tumminia was an insurance agent for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. (MassMutual) who represented Fastener and its president as an agent for MassMutual, handling all pension and profit sharing accounts and life insurance policies for Fastener’s employees.
From July 2004 through August 2010, Tumminia and his two friends—Feuer, a practicing attorney from 1990 through 2001 and the owner of Cypress Lawn Care, a landscaping company in New Jersey; and Mannarino, the owner of J&D Italian Specialty Meats, delicatessens located in New Jersey and New York—enriched themselves by diverting life insurance premium payments and pension and profit sharing checks belonging to Fastener’s employees into bank accounts that they controlled. In April 2008, Feuer incorporated and listed himself as the registered agent and officer of MassMutual Contracting Corp., a limited liability company that never performed any services for Fastener or any other clients but was created by Feuer and Tumminia solely to falsely represent to Fastener that it was the real MassMutual. Feuer and Tumminia deposited $574,279 from Fastener into the MassMutual Contracting Corp. bank account.
Tumminia, Feuer and Mannarino conducted 133 transactions, including interstate wire transfers, totaling $1,437,542, in deposits into bank accounts that they controlled. They then used the diverted funds for personal expenditures, including rent, cable, utility, and grocery bills.
As part of their guilty pleas, Tumminia, Feuer, and Mannarino have agreed to make full restitution for all losses resulting from their crimes to the employees of Fastener Dimensions. Tumminia has agreed to forfeit $1,198,278 to the United States. Feuer has agreed to forfeit $115,963 and Mannarino has agreed to forfeit $10,000.
In addition to the prison terms, Judge Pisano sentenced Tumminia and Feuer sentenced to two years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI working out of the Red Bank resident agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford, with the investigation leading to today’s sentences.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Mendelsohn of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.
This case was brought in coordination with President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. Attorneys’ offices, and state and local partners, it is the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory, and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state, and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets; and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions, and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed nearly 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,900 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, please visit www.stopfraud.gov.