Former Oxford Attorney Sentenced for $2 Million Fraud Against Irish Businessman

BOSTON, MA—An Oxford man was sentenced late yesterday in federal court for engaging in a scheme which resulted in the victim, an Irish businessman, being defrauded of at least $2 million.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Division, announced that RAYMOND A. DESAUTELS III, age 43, of Oxford, MA, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to 30 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. DESAUTELS was also ordered to pay $2,940,000 in restitution. DESAUTELS pled guilty to two counts of wire fraud on June 24, 2008.

At the earlier plea hearing, the prosecutor told the Court that had the case proceeded to trial the Government’s evidence would have proven that DESAUTELS was an attorney with an office in Oxford who had previously represented Allen Seymour of Massachusetts as closing attorney on several real estate transactions. DESAUTELS was retained in January 2008 to represent Irish businessman Kevin Phelan in connection with the purchase of a commercial real estate property located in Pennsylvania. Phelan had paid a $1 million nonrefundable deposit for the property and retained DESAUTELS to complete the transaction. In connection with that transaction, Phelan sent DESAUTELS nearly $2 million to forward to the Pennsylvania escrow agent by January 31. Seymour persuaded DESAUTELS to let Seymour use $1.94 million of Phelan’s funds to assist Seymour and his associates to fraudulently obtain bank financing. DESAUTELS did so without Phelan’s knowledge or permission. When Seymour failed to promptly return the money, as he had promised, DESAUTELS told Phelan, falsely, that his local bank was to blame for not wiring the funds to the escrow agent. DESAUTELS even prepared a fake bank document to falsely support his assertion that he had requested that the bank wire the funds.

Allen Seymour pled guilty to wire fraud, interstate transportation of property taken by fraud and bulk cash smuggling out of the United States. He was sentenced on July 30, 2009 to 51 months imprisonment, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release and restitution in the amount of $2,940,000.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Massachusetts State Police and the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Balthazard of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.