Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Defraud Massachusetts-Based Uniform Supply Company

BOSTON – A Florida man pleaded guilty today in connection with a scheme to defraud his former employer, a Massachusetts-based uniform-supply company, by falsifying invoices.

Richard Ritz, 58, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock scheduled sentencing for Sept. 9, 2021. Ritz was charged on May 4, 2021.

Between approximately 2000 and March 2019, Ritz and others defrauded the uniform-supply company by causing the company to pay fake invoices for products that were not actually delivered and diverting other products that they re-sold for their own benefit. In addition, Ritz’s co-conspirators created a fake supply company and Ritz caused the uniform-supply company to pay more than $800,000 in invoices to the fake supplier for purported products.

The charge of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sara Miron Bloom and Ian Stearns of Mendell’s Securities Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.