Three Pennsylvania Men Charged With Corporate Fraud Offenses

SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Jeffrey Poth, age 68, of Drums, Pennsylvania; James Mahon IV, age 64, of Shavertown, Pennsylvania; and Joel Gillick, age 56, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, were charged with various fraud offenses in connection with their former employments at Tammac Holdings Corp.  A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Mahon and Gillick with conspiring to commit bank, wire, and mail fraud, and with several counts of bank fraud and wire fraud.  Poth was charged in an information with conspiring to commit bank and wire fraud.

According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the charges allege that Poth was the President, Mahon the Vice President, and Gillick an attorney and Compliance Officer of Tammac, a Luzerne County business.  Between 2008 and September 2021, the conspirators suppressed delinquency rates and repossession losses in loan portfolios that were sold and serviced by Tammac to various financial institutions and investors.  The scheme was accomplished by making fake payments on the loans, using Tammac’s own money.  The conspirators allegedly took these steps to avoid triggering recourse obligations under the servicing agreement contracts that would yield significant financial penalties for Tammac.  During the course of the scheme, the conspirators hid the fake payments in Tammac’s accounting records, and concealed the practice from investors and auditors.

The charges also allege that between 2017 and 2021, the conspirators provided false financial information to an investment firm during a due diligence process, and continued to conceal the fake payment practice.  As a result, the investment firm purchased Tammac, and subsequently purchased loan portfolios from Tammac.  Following the acquisition, the conspirators continued to provide false financial information to the investment firm.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Phillip J. Caraballo and Carlo D. Marchioli are prosecuting the case.

The maximum penalty under federal law for the most serious offenses are 30 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

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