PHILADELPHIA – Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Thomas Del Borrello, 42, of Sewell, NJ, was sentenced to one year in prison, two years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine by United States District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe for filing false currency reports in connection with a vast, multi-million dollar scheme to defraud the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market (Market) in South Philadelphia, perpetrated by the Market’s President and CEO Caesar DiCrecchio.
The defendant pleaded guilty to a Criminal Information in April 2021, charging him with filing false Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) and failing to file CTRs for cash transactions in excess of $10,000. Del Borrello was a supervisor at United Check Cashing on South Broad Street in Philadelphia and, as such, was responsible for compliance with regulations governing cash transactions, including the preparation and filing of CTRs.
Del Borrello regularly cashed checks for Caesar DiCrecchio, who has pleaded guilty to defrauding the Market while serving as its President and CEO. As part of his guilty plea, DiCrecchio admitted regularly causing groups of checks to be delivered to, and cashed at, United Check Cashing. These checks were each made out for less than $10,000, but when cashed as a group generated in excess of $10,000 in United States currency. For these cash transactions in excess of $10,000, regulations require the currency exchange to file a CTR, recording the identity of the person who presented the transaction. Del Borrello caused the filing of false CTRs which hid DiCrecchio’s identity, or caused United Check Cashing to fail to file a CTR altogether. On some occasions, DiCrecchio directed Del Borrello to convert the proceeds of the checks into separate money orders which were used to pay the $14,167 monthly rent for DiCrecchio’s Stone Harbor house. Del Borrello’s corrupt actions permitted DiCrecchio to remain undetected while he perpetrated the $7 million fraud on the Market.
“Del Borrello, by his corrupt choices, prevented the ordinary operation of the anti-money laundering laws of the United States,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Williams. “In his position as a supervisor at a check cashing business, Del Borrello served at a key gateway in our economy. But rather than respect the law and his important role in the enforcement process, he helped DiCrecchio cover up a massive fraud. He deserves the sentence of imprisonment he received for his effort to defeat our anti-money laundering laws.”
“In repeatedly evading or falsifying the required CTRs, Thomas Del Borrello facilitated the continuation of a long-running, multimillion-dollar fraud scheme,” said Michael J. Driscoll, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “He knew it was wrong and didn’t care, because he was making money off the whole deal. As today’s sentencing shows, such criminal actions have serious consequences.”
“The subject’s actions allowed millions of dollars to be siphoned from the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market, harming the local economy,” said Joleen D. Simpson, Acting Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation, Philadelphia Field Office. “The subject had a duty to prepare and file CTRs. As a direct result of Del Borrello’s dereliction of duties, an entity suffered lost revenues and federal tax laws were violated. IRS Criminal Investigation will always be ready to assist its law enforcement partners in investigating complex financial cases that cause economic damage to individuals and entities.”
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Organized Crime Task Force, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, and the Pennsylvania State Police – Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael T. Donovan.
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