Military Contractor Fraud-Boston

Nicholas Stoupis, who worked as a military contractor at Hanscom Air Force Base, was sentenced Tuesday to four years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to charges he ran a scheme to steal $4.7 million worth of products from Cisco Systems, Inc. ^[1]

Stoupis must also pay $3.1 million in restitution to the California-based company, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. ^[2] Stoupis will also serve three years of supervised release after his prison term. ^[3]

Prosecutors said he carried out the scheme from July 2004 through March 2006, creating e-mail accounts in the name of fictitious people using a Hanscom address, and using them to order replacements for recalled products that had been sold to the military or to contractors. ^[4] Stoupis had the goods sent to his home, then sold them over the Internet, prosecutors said. ^[5]

Stoupis pleaded guilty Oct. 5 to two counts of mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud. ^[6] Mail fraud is an act of fraud using the U.S. Postal Service, such as making false representations through the mail to obtain an economic advantage.^[7] Wire fraud is an act of fraud using electronic communication, such as the internet.^[8]

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[1] Pepperell Man Pleads Guilty of Contracting Fraud at Hanscom, Associated Press via The Boston Herald, January 31, 2007.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4]Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Black’s Law Dictionary 687 (8th ed. 2005).
[8] Id.