Former Ruiz Foods Employee Pleads Guilty to Six Counts of Mail Fraud for Embezzlement

FRESNO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Mark George Jankowski, 51, of Turlock, pleaded guilty today to six counts of mail fraud for embezzling from his former employer Ruiz Foods.

According to court documents, from December 2004 to July 2010, Jankowski, as marketing director of Ruiz Foods, embezzled approximately $448,366 from Ruiz Foods. He did this by creating invoices from false sales and marketing vendors billing Ruiz for supposed services performed. Jankowski then authorized the payment to these false vendors. The checks were either mailed to the vendors to addresses provided by Jankowski or were hand-delivered to him.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stanley A. Boone is prosecuting the case.

Jankowski is scheduled to be sentenced on August 6, 2012 by United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill. Jankowski faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,00 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory sentencing factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.