General Manager Of South Jersey Car Dealership Sentenced To Five Years In Prison For Bank Fraud Conspiracy, Tax Charges

CAMDEN, N.J. – A Vineland, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 60 months in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud a bank and for filing a fraudulent tax return, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.

Richard T. Pepe, 70, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle to a superseding information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of fraud and false statements on his 2008 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. Judge Simandle imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From 2004 through October 2008, Pepe was the general manager of Chevrolet 73. The object of the conspiracy was for Pepe and others acting on his behalf to fraudulently obtain money from M&T Bank, intended as floor plan financing for Chevrolet 73, by providing phony information to the bank, including false liabilities and profits on Chevrolet 73’s monthly financial statements. Pepe then used that money – over $2.95 million – for personal expenses.

Pepe also admitted falsely claiming that his income was $36,628 on his 2008 individual tax return when he knew his actual income exceeded that amount.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Simandle sentenced Pepe to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay forfeiture in the amount of $2,950,270.57.

Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited special agents of the FBI Philadelphia Division’s Cherry Hill Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael Harpster, and special agents of the IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan D. Larsen, with the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline M. Carle of the U.S. Attorney's Office Criminal Division in Camden.

Defense counsel: Thomas Young Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defender, Camden