September 8, 2011Ex-Citigroup Executive Pleads Guilty to Fraud
New York, A 35-year-old former Citigroup Inc. vice president pleaded guilty Tuesday morning to one count of bank fraud in relation to his embezzlement of more than $22 million from his former employer.
The former vice president in the company's Treasury Finance department, Gary A. Foster, stood in a mostly empty courtroom before U.S. District Judge Eric N. Vitaliano, who accepted his plea.
Mr. Foster was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport in late June when he arrived on a flight from Bangkok.
In entering his guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, Mr. Foster explained that he executed a scheme between 2003 and 2010 to defraud Citigroup, by directing the funds be wired into an account at J.P. Morgan. In conducting the scheme, he said, he concealed the fact that he took the funds sent to that account for his personal use, which he did from his Queens, N.Y., office.
Under sentencing guidelines for the charge, which was filed by way of an information from the U.S. Attorney's Office rather than an indictment by a grand jury, the judge said he could impose a sentence of a maximum 30 years in prison and a maximum five years of supervised release following completion of a prison sentence. If Mr. Foster violates terms of his supervised release, the judge could sentence him to another three years in prison without credit for the time served in prison or during supervised release.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Yaeger told the judge that the government planned to recommend, in agreement for the plea, a prison sentence of between a little over eight years and a little over 10 years—or between 97 and 121 months.
In addition to seeking a reduced sentence, the government also recommended Mr. Foster forfeit various real-estate properties he owned in Brooklyn, Manhattan and elsewhere, and luxury cars and other items with an estimated value of $16 million. In explaining the potential sentence to Mr. Foster, Judge Vitaliano noted he could impose a fine of as much as twice the amount of the crime, or more than $44 million.
Part of the agreement Mr. Foster entered into prevents him from challenging the conviction, if he is sentenced to 135 months—a little over 11 years—or less.
No date has been set for Mr. Foster's sentencing.
The former vice president in the company's Treasury Finance department, Gary A. Foster, stood in a mostly empty courtroom before U.S. District Judge Eric N. Vitaliano, who accepted his plea.
Mr. Foster was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport in late June when he arrived on a flight from Bangkok.
In entering his guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, Mr. Foster explained that he executed a scheme between 2003 and 2010 to defraud Citigroup, by directing the funds be wired into an account at J.P. Morgan. In conducting the scheme, he said, he concealed the fact that he took the funds sent to that account for his personal use, which he did from his Queens, N.Y., office.
Under sentencing guidelines for the charge, which was filed by way of an information from the U.S. Attorney's Office rather than an indictment by a grand jury, the judge said he could impose a sentence of a maximum 30 years in prison and a maximum five years of supervised release following completion of a prison sentence. If Mr. Foster violates terms of his supervised release, the judge could sentence him to another three years in prison without credit for the time served in prison or during supervised release.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Yaeger told the judge that the government planned to recommend, in agreement for the plea, a prison sentence of between a little over eight years and a little over 10 years—or between 97 and 121 months.
In addition to seeking a reduced sentence, the government also recommended Mr. Foster forfeit various real-estate properties he owned in Brooklyn, Manhattan and elsewhere, and luxury cars and other items with an estimated value of $16 million. In explaining the potential sentence to Mr. Foster, Judge Vitaliano noted he could impose a fine of as much as twice the amount of the crime, or more than $44 million.
Part of the agreement Mr. Foster entered into prevents him from challenging the conviction, if he is sentenced to 135 months—a little over 11 years—or less.
No date has been set for Mr. Foster's sentencing.
