U.S. Department
of Justice
Baton Rouge Man Indicted For Wire and Tax Fraud
NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced yesterday that WAYNE TRICHE, age 75, of Baton Rouge, was charged in a 38-count Indictment with wire fraud and tax fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343 and Title 26, United States Code, Section 7206(1), respectively.
The indictment alleges that TRICHE, a certified public accountant, embezzled over $2,000,000.00 from the New Orleans Firefighters Pension and Relief Fund (“the Fund”). TRICHE was responsible for investing a portion of the Fund’s investments. Rather than return the profits earned to the Fund, TRICHE stole in excess of $2,000,000.00 and used those funds for personal expenses. The tax fraud charges stem from TRICHE’s failure to claim the embezzled funds on his personal income tax returns, resulting in a significant loss to the Internal Revenue Service.
If convicted of the violations, TRICHE faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, a fine of up to $250,000.00, a period of up to 3 years supervised release, and a mandatory special assessment of $3800.00.
U. S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser reiterated that an Indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service/Criminal Investigations in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Tracey N. Knight is in charge of the prosecution.