CHICAGO — A former senior accountant for a Chicago construction company has been indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly embezzling millions in company funds.
RICHARD A. MANDARINO entered false payment requests in the construction company’s accounting system, causing checks to be issued to vendor companies for goods and services that Mandarino knew were never provided, according to an indictment returned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Mandarino then converted those payments to his and others’ personal use, the indictment states. Mandarino allegedly concealed the thefts by creating fictitious credits and offsets in the construction company’s accounting system.
Mandarino committed the alleged fraud from 2015 to 2017 while he resided in Canada and worked on the construction company’s Canadian business projects, the indictment states. The charges allege that Mandarino fraudulently embezzled and obtained more than two million Canadian dollars.
The indictment charges Mandarino, 43, of Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, with three counts of wire fraud. Arraignment in U.S. District Court in Chicago has not yet been scheduled.
The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick J. King, Jr.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Each count of wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.