Home Cleveland Press Releases 2010 Chagrin Falls Man Charged with Mail and Wire Fraud
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Chagrin Falls Man Charged with Mail and Wire Fraud

U.S. Attorney’s Office November 30, 2010
  • Northern District of Ohio (216) 622-3600

Robert E. Alick was sentenced to 33 months’ imprisonment following his convictions by guilty plea to five counts of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the administration of the Internal Revenue laws, Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, announced.

Alick, 61, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, was also ordered to pay more than $570,000 in restitution to the IRS and over $550,000 in restitution to his fraud victims.

“This sentence reflects the fact that the defendant took advantage of several hospitals and did not meet his obligation to pay taxes,” Dettelbach said.

Alick operated a used medical equipment sales business in Beachwood, Ohio, through the following entities: Healthcare Imaging Solutions Corporation, ECT Medical Systems Inc., ECT Corporation, Second Source Medical Equipment Corporation, and Computer Remarketing Credit Corporation d/b/a DECT Imaging. As part of his guilty plea, Alick admitted that he used this series of corporations both as part of his fraudulent scheme (described below) and to avoid paying taxes.

Alick admitted that in connection to the mail and wire fraud counts, from July 2002 through April 2006, he engaged in a scheme to defraud the hospitals that were his customers through various means, including by taking substantial deposits that were supposed to be used to purchase medical equipment and failing to use such funds for the purchase of the equipment and failing to deliver the equipment, instead using the money on other things. Alick further admitted that he defrauded the following six hospitals: Toledo Hospital (Toledo, Ohio), Greene County Medical Center (Jefferson, Iowa), Canyon Surgery Center (Phoenix), North Suburban Surgery Center (Thorton, Colo.), Clarion Hospital (Clarion, Penn.) and Hugh Chatham Hospital (Elkin, N.C.).

Alick admitted that in connection with the tax crime, in addition to operating his business through a series of corporations, he engaged in an array of other activities to obstruct and impede the IRS. For instance, he admitted that although he caused his corporations to file quarterly employment tax returns from 2000 through part of 2003, he failed to cause them to file such returns from the end of 2003 through 2006. In addition, he admitted that during both periods, he caused these corporations not to pay over the employment taxes that they owed. Alick also admitted that he collected employment taxes from some employees, but not others.

Moreover, Alick admitted that he took various actions to deceive the IRS and to impede its efforts to collect these and other taxes from 2000 through 2006. He also admitted that he caused his corporations to fail to file corporate income tax returns from 2001 through 2006. Finally, Alick admitted that he made extensive use of cash to avoid making accurate records of his income, used nominee bank accounts to conceal his and his corporations’ income and assets from the IRS, and cashed checks from his business accounts in various ways to hide his financial activity from the IRS.

This case is being prosecuted by Michael L. Collyer and Tax Division trial attorney Patrick J. Murray, following an investigation by the Cleveland offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division.

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