Former Executive Director of a Baltimore Non-profit Corporation Sentenced to Prison for Stealing over $233,000

Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Victor Frierson, age 56, of Baltimore, today to 27 months incarceration, 12 months of which is to be served in home detention with electronic monitoring, followed by three years of supervised release, for wire fraud arising from a scheme to steal more than $233,000 from a Baltimore non-profit corporation. Judge Bennett also entered an order that Frierson pay restitution of $233,606, determined to be the full amount of the loss.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

According to Frierson’s plea agreement, from 2000 to June of 2009, he served as executive director of a Baltimore non-profit corporation founded in 1996 by a coalition of community residents in partnership with Sinai Hospital. The non-profit was established to develop resources that would improve the overall health and well-being of individuals and families in the Park Heights community of Baltimore. Frierson coordinated the operations of the non-profit, including fund raising and budget oversight.

In 2004 the non-profit hired an accounting firm to conduct its annual audit and prepare a financial report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2003. No further audits were conducted, although Frierson falsely represented that audits were conducted annually. Frierson created false documents in the style and format of the 2003 audit report, one of which he provided to a bank in support of the non-profit’s commercial loan application.

From March 2006 to June 2009, Frierson stole at least $233,606 from bank accounts held by the non-profit and deposited the money in his personal bank accounts. Frierson used the funds to pay personal debts, such as utility and service providers, insurance and credit card debts. Frierson also used the falsely created audit reports to cover up his theft from the non-profit’s accounts.

This law enforcement action is part of President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark W. Crooks, who prosecuted the case.