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R.I. Wholesaler Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for Fraud
Gerald Kent pleaded guilty in December to cheating a debtor finance company out of millions.
Providence, R.I.--The Rhode Island jewelry distributor who pleaded guilty to cheating a debtor finance company out of millions was sentenced Monday.
Gerald Kent, 42, of Groton, Connecticut, was the owner and operator of Kent Jewelry, formerly located in Johnston, Rhode Island.
In December, he admitted to executing a fraud scheme while selling his company’s jewelry on the internet, primarily through Groupon and Zulily, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island.
Kent had been doing business with a Chicago-based factoring company, a third party company that offers business capital in exchange for buying unpaid invoices at a discount.
He submitted fake invoices to the company that resulted in him receiving payments totaling nearly $5 million dollars.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Rhode Island, in order to pull off this fraud, he created and used a fraudulent copy of Groupon’s website, asked accomplices to pose as Groupon employees, and opened bank accounts in the names of Groupon and Zulily to deceive the debtor finance company into believing it was receiving payments from these companies.
He pleaded guilty to one count each of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, and on Monday U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith sentenced Kent to four years in federal prison.
He also was ordered to serve three years supervised release and to pay restitution in the amount of $3.6 million.
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