Former IOS Executive Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud

The Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin announced that Lance A. Furr (50), of Bloomington, Indiana, pled guilty yesterday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. Mr. Furr was formerly the chief financial officer of International Outsourcing Services (“IOS”), a corporation that once served as the nation’s largest coupon processor.

In March 2007, a grand jury indicted IOS and 11 individuals on 25 counts of wire fraud. The indictment alleged that Mr. Furr and his co-defendants engaged in a longstanding coupon fraud scheme that caused over $250,000,000 in loss to manufacturers nationwide. In May 2007, after IOS agreed to cooperate with law enforcement, the United States agreed to dismiss the charges against the corporation without prejudice. In December 2007, a grand jury returned a superseding indictment against individual defendants, adding conspiracy and obstruction charges.

Mr. Furr is the third individual to plead guilty in the case. As part of his plea agreement, Mr. Furr acknowledged that he conspired with El Paso, Texas residents Thomas C. Balsiger and James C. Currey and others to defraud manufacturers, IOS’s retail clients, and others through the use of fraudulent invoices designed to cause manufacturers to pay for coupons that otherwise might have been rejected due to fraud concerns.

The maximum possible penalty for this offense is imprisonment for not more than five years, a fine of not more than $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release. A restitution order also may be issued. No sentencing date has been scheduled for Mr. Furr, who is cooperating with the United States Attorney’s Office.

The FBI is the lead agency in this investigation. This case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorneys Stephen A. Ingraham, Richard G. Frohling and Kelly B. Watzka for prosecution.