Connecticut Insulation Contractor Admits Operating Fraud Scheme

Deirdre M. Daly, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Edward Petrucci, 56, of Orange, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty today before Senior U.S. District Judge Alfred V. Covello in Hartford to wire and mail fraud charges.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Petrucci operated Womco Insulation Inc., Incor Group Inc., D & N Insulation Company, and Petco Insulation Company, all of which were West Haven-based companies that performed construction services, mechanical insulation, and asbestos removal in large-scale building projects in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, and Florida.

In 2006, Petrucci, who had just been released from federal prison, was unable to secure funding from a bank so he started doing business with Platinum Funding Services LLC, a New York factoring company that provided funding to client companies. A factoring company typically purchases a company’s receivables at a discount, providing the company with liquid assets at a discounted rate while purchasing the right to collect on the purchased receivables at a later date.

In the beginning of their relationship, Platinum regularly purchased Petrucci’s invoices from legitimate insulation jobs throughout Connecticut and collected on those invoices without any serious problems. However, from approximately December 2007 to April 2009, Petrucci defrauded Platinum by causing his companies to sell invoices to Platinum that Petrucci knew were fake and which were for work that his companies had not performed and, in many cases, would not perform in the future.

Through this scheme, Petrucci’s companies received more than $1 million in payments from Platinum that were based on the fraudulent invoices.

Petrucci pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud. Judge Covello has scheduled sentencing for January 30, 2014, at which time Petrucci faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years on each count.

In May 2005, Petrucci was sentenced to a federal prison term for filing false corporate and personal tax returns and evading the payment of more than $1 million in federal income taxes.

This matter has been investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert M. Spector.