Freehold Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing $1.4M from Defense Contractor

Three central New Jersey men, including a resident, have admittedly stolen $1.4 million from a New York based defense contracting company, according to U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.

Daniel Tumminia, 49, of Millstone was a former insurance agent for Massachusetts Mutual life Insurance Co. (MassMutual) who represented Fastener Dimensions, a New York based manufacturer and distributor of aircraft, aerospace, and military components and hardware.

Tumminia and two of his friends, Michael Feuer, 47, of Freehold and Dennis Mannarino, 45, of Manalapan, plead guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano in Trenton Federal court to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Tumminia represented Fastener and its president as an agent for MassMutal and handled all of their pension and profit sharing accounts and life insurance policies for Fastener's employees, according to court documents.

During the period between July 2004 and August 2010, Tumminia, Feuer (owner of Cypress Lawn Care and attorney from 1990-2001) and Mannarino (owner of J&D Italian Specialty Meats delicatessens located in NY and NJ) diverted life insurance premium payments and pension and profit sharing checks belonging to Fastener's employees into bank accounts that they controlled, court documents said.

In April 2008, Feuer incorporated and listed himself as the registered agent and officer of MassMutual Contracting Corporation, which was a limited liability company that never performed any services for Fastener or any other clients. Instead, MassMutual Contracting Corporation was created by Feuer and Tumminia for the single purpose of falsely representing to Fastner that it was the actual MassMutal company, court documents revealed. The MassMutual Contracting Corporation bank account held $574,279, all of which came from checks deposited from Fastener by Feuer and Tumminia.

Feuer, Tumminia, and Mannarino administered 133 banking transactions, including wire transfers, totalling $1,437,542 in deposits into bank accounts that they had control of. Then, the three men used this diverted money on personal expenses such as ATM withdrawals, rent, cable, utility and grocery bills, court documents said.

Tumminia, Feuer and Mannarino must make full restitution for all losses resulting from their crimes to the employees of Fastener Dimensions, as a part of their guilty pleas. Tumminia will forfeit $1,198,278, Feuer will forfeit $115,963, and Mannarino will forfeit $10,000 to the United States.

The conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges carry a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prision and a $250,00 fine or twice the pecuniary gain or loss resulting from the conspiracy, according U.S. attorney's office. The sentencings for Tumminia, Feuer, and Mannarino are scheduled for July 9, 2012.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI working out of a Red Bank resident agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward, for the investigation which lead to these guilty pleas.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Mendelsohn of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Economic Crimes Unit in Newark represents th U.S. government.

From the U.S. Attorney's Office:

This case was brought in coordination with President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.