Former Hunter Douglas Attorney Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud and IRS Offence

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DENVER – Jason Timothy Throne, age 55, formerly of Colorado, pled guilty yesterday before U.S. District Court Judge Christine M. Arguello to mail fraud and filing a false income tax return, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, IRS Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced.  Judge Arguello is scheduled to sentence Throne on July 13, 2016.  Throne agreed to be charged by an Information on February 18, 2016, waiving his Constitutional right to be indicted by a federal grand jury.

 

According to the information and plea agreement, Throne, a lawyer, joined Hunter Douglas, Inc as an intellectual property counsel in 1993. He was promoted to intellectual property general counsel in 2001 and remained in that position until his employment was terminated in June 2014. Until 2015, Throne was licensed to practice law in New Hampshire and registered to practice in patent cases before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Hunter Douglas is in the business of designing, manufacturing, and fabricating window coverings and related products which is located Broomfield, Colorado. Throne’s duties included managing and overseeing patents and trademarks for Hunter Douglas.

 

On December 29, 1999, Throne arranged for Patent Services Group, Inc. (PSG) to be incorporated in Colorado and he opened post office box 2019 in Boulder, Colorado, stating on a Postal Service application that the box would be used by PSG. In early 2000, Throne opened an account in the name of PSG at Vectra Bank in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.   Beginning in early 2000 and continuing to April 2014, Throne prepared 162 false PSG invoices, each addressed to “Jason T. Throne Hunter Douglas Inc.,” Throne stated on each invoice that PSG had performed patent searches for Hunter Douglas and that Hunter Douglas owed money to PSG for those services. After writing “OK to pay” and his initials on each of the invoices, Throne submitted them on a monthly basis to the accounting department at the Hunter Douglas offices in Colorado. Relying on Throne’s approvals, the accounting department paid the invoices by mailing checks to PSG between April 18, 2000, and April 25, 2014.  The total amount of the checks was $4,841,146.

 

After retrieving the checks from the post office, Throne deposited them into the PSG account at Vectra Bank. He then caused the money to be moved from that account to personal bank accounts and used it for mortgage payments, home renovations, landscaping, and other personal expenses.

 

On June 3, 2014, two Hunter Douglas supervisors and a lawyer for the company, having determined there was a connection between Throne and PSG, confronted him about it. Throne responded by misrepresenting that his wife, as the owner of PSG, performed patent searches under his guidance. He falsely stated that about seventy percent of PSG’s work was done for Hunter Douglas affiliates and the remainder for other companies.

 

For the years 2009 through 2013, Throne prepared Forms 1040 U.S. Individual In- come Tax Returns for himself and his wife and a 2014 Form 1040 for himself only. Throne should have reported all of the proceeds of the above described scheme on the returns as “Other income,” but he instead reported only some of the proceeds and mischaracterized them as other forms of income and also falsely claimed business expenses. The tax loss resulting from the false 2009 through 2014 returns is $345,348.

 

Throne agrees that the amounts of restitution that the court should order as a result of his convictions are $4,841,146 for mail fraud and $345,348 for false income tax returns.

 

Throne was charged with one count of mail fraud and one count of filing a false income tax return.  Mail fraud carries a penalty of not more than 20 years in federal prison, and a fine of up to $250,000 per count.  Filing a false income tax return carries a penalty of not more than 3 years in federal prison, and a fine of up to $250,000 per count.

 

This case was investigated by agents with Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and IRS Criminal Investigation.  The case is being prosecuted by the Economic Crime Section of the Colorado U.S. Attorney’s Criminal Division.

 


Undercover Operation Leadsd to Gang Members Meth Sentence

Methanthetamine
        LOS ANGELES – A street gang member has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison after being found guilty of two narcotics trafficking charges in relation to the sale of about two ounces of methamphetamine during an undercover investigation.
        Aaron “Droopy” Ramos, 31, a resident of the Florence-Graham district of Los Angeles, was Monday yesterday afternoon to 168 months in federal prison by United States District Judge Christina A. Snyder.
        Following a jury trial in December, Ramos was found guilty of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and distribution of methamphetamine. (Ramos was also convicted at trial in 2014, but that conviction was reversed by Judge Snyder because of comments made by a juror.)
        “Drug trafficking continues to be a core activity of street gangs,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “Taking this violent drug trafficker off of our streets both protects the community and cuts off a source of funding for the gang.”
        A second defendant in the case – Sharon “Hyper” Paiz, 35, of Lancaster – who obtained the narcotics involved in the transaction, pleaded guilty and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison when she is sentenced by Judge Snyder on June 20.
        In court papers, prosecutors argued that Ramos was a high-ranking member of the 18th Street gang and that he was the driver in a fatal drive-by shooting. Ramos “was involved in a drive-by shooting simply for sport,” according to a sentencing memo filed in the case. “The shooting was a gang initiation that resulted in the death of a non-gang member that [Ramos] was supervising in his leadership role.” Ramos was convicted in relation to this shooting in state court and has nearly completed an 8-year prison sentence.
        The investigation into Ramos and other 18th Street gang members was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

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