Pennsylvania Man sentenced to Jail in Bank Fraud Scheme

A man from Pennsylvania has been sentenced to 41 months in prison for conspiring to commit bank and wire fraud. After that he will have five years of supervised release.

Bernard J. Stromberg of Morrisville, PA was also ordered to pay restitution for his role in a scheme involving the Chesapeake Bank of Glouchester, according to Neil McBride with the US Attorney for the Easter District of Virginia. The total he will pay is approximately $716,000.

According to McBride, Stromberg was the CFO of Atomica when he created an agreement with Chesapeake Bank to receive payment on fake invoices. The scheme involved creating a working relationship between Atomica, a design company, and the bank where Atomica would sell the invoices to the bank. The bank would then pay Atomica an administrative fee plus a 10 percent reserve before the customers had paid Atomica.

Through the course of 2009 Atomica sold more than 250 false invoices to the bank spread out over various vendors, amounts, and time periods. This allowed Atomica the ability to keep from submitting actual invoices and keep the bank in the dark.

In December of 2009 Atomica closed its doors with 90 percent of outstanding invoices as fraudulent. Estimates put the cost to Chesapeake Bank at $716,000. Mr Stromberg plead guilty to the charges in Jan 25th 2012.

In Arizona he would have been charged with Bank and Wire Fraud as well.