电信建筑公司前老板兼CEO认罪：掏空自家公司逾500万美元、行贿逾100万美元换3亿美元合同
新泽西州 Manalapan 居民 Anthony Tepedino，62 岁，是已经倒闭的一家电信建筑与工程公司的创始人、首席执行官兼所有人。他于 11 月 12 日在纽约南区联邦法院认罪，罪名涉及商业贿赂、欺诈与加重身份盗窃。美国司法部纽约南区检察官办公室公布了这一认罪结果。
据检方文件，至少从 2017 年到 2024 年，Tepedino 用一系列手法同时欺诈自家公司、公司最大的客户与最大的债权银行。这家建筑公司经营十多年，一度年营收达数亿美元、雇员超过 500 人。他与同伙设立空壳公司、制作假发票，从公司掏走超过 500 万美元，再把部分赃款用来向大客户的一名高级经理行贿，并大额付给自己、亲属与债权人。
其中，2018 年起，他与一名同伙把假发票报给公司、向一家由同伙控制的空壳公司骗取付款，还冒用他人身份与公司对接掩盖关系，到 2024 年 9 月已盗走超过 500 万美元。2020 年至 2024 年 9 月，他向客户方的高级经理支付超过 100 万美元商业贿赂，换取对方把新合同与工程分给自家公司并批准发票；行贿的约四年间，该客户向这家建筑公司支付了超过 3 亿美元。
他还欺诈公司的最大贷款银行：2021 年底至 2022 年初，他就空壳公司与行贿关系作虚假陈述与隐瞒，为公司取得超过 1,800 万美元商业信贷。2024 年 9 月案发前后，他又试图串供，让两名同伙按虚假说法向执法人员解释。公司最终倒闭，员工失业，银行有超过 2,500 万美元贷款未能收回。
纽约南区联邦检察官 Jamie McDonald 表示，Tepedino 多年挪用数百万美元、支付超过 100 万美元商业贿赂，并用赃款维持奢华生活，把公司与债权人留下来收拾残局。按认罪协议，Tepedino 同意没收超过 500 万美元违法所得，并支付超过 2,500 万美元赔偿。
Tepedino 承认的罪名包括一项共谋电汇欺诈与诚实服务电汇欺诈，最高可判 5 年监禁；以及一项加重身份盗窃，须强制连续执行 2 年监禁。他在联邦地区法官 Richard M. Berman 前认罪，量刑定于 2027 年 2 月 17 日。本案由联邦调查局（FBI）等机构查办，纽约南区检察官办公室公共腐败组负责起诉。
Former Owner and CEO of Telecommunications Construction Company Pleads Guilty to Commercial Bribery and Fraud
Anthony Tepedino, 62, of Manalapan, New Jersey, the founder, chief executive officer, and owner of a now-defunct telecommunications construction and engineering company, pleaded guilty on November 12 in federal court in the Southern District of New York to commercial bribery, fraud, and aggravated identity theft offenses. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced the plea.
According to prosecutors, from at least 2017 through 2024, Tepedino carried out a series of schemes to defraud his own company, its largest customer, and its largest creditor bank. The construction company had operated for more than a decade and at its peak earned hundreds of millions of dollars a year and employed more than 500 people. Tepedino and others formed shell companies, created fake invoices, and looted the company of more than $5 million, using some of the proceeds to bribe an employee of the largest customer and to pay millions to himself, his relatives, and his creditors.
Beginning in 2018, he and a co-conspirator submitted false invoices that generated fraudulent payments to a non-operational shell company, falsely claiming it was owned by a third party and having the co-conspirator impersonate that person; by September 2024 they had stolen more than $5 million. From 2020 through September 2024, Tepedino paid more than $1 million in commercial bribes to a senior manager at the customer company in exchange for steering contracts and work to his company and approving its invoices; during the roughly four years of bribery, the customer paid the construction company more than $300 million.
He also defrauded the company's largest lender, obtaining more than $18 million in commercial credit in late 2021 and early 2022 through false statements and omissions about the shell company and the bribery. In and after September 2024, he attempted witness tampering, seeking to have both co-conspirators adopt false exculpatory narratives. After his crimes were discovered, the company went out of business, leaving its employees out of work and the bank with more than $25 million in unpaid loans.
U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said Tepedino embezzled millions of dollars over years, paid more than a million dollars in commercial bribes, and used his ill-gotten gains to fund a lavish lifestyle while his company and creditors were left holding the bag. Under his plea, Tepedino agreed to forfeit more than $5 million and pay restitution of more than $25 million.
Tepedino pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years. He pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman and is scheduled to be sentenced on February 17, 2027. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other agencies and is being prosecuted by the Public Corruption Unit of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
来源：美国司法部纽约南区检察官办公室
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：位于华盛顿的美国司法部总部大楼宪法大道立面秋日景象，本案由司法部纽约南区检察官办公室起诉。编辑部固定图库（司法部总部定版图）。 / Photo: The U.S. Department of Justice headquarters on Constitution Avenue in Washington in autumn; this case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. Newsroom fixed library image (DOJ headquarters).
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