Judge Labels Defendant’s Conduct “Despicable”
SAN JOSE – LAWFUEL – Law News Network – United States Attorney Kevin V. Ryan announced today that Lawrence B. Teodoro, formerly of Menlo Park and Atherton, was sentenced yesterday afternoon to serve 34 months in prison following his conviction for embezzling $1 million from his former employer, Timeless Toys, Inc., of Hayward. The sentence followed a hearing at which United States District Judge James Ware heard evidence regarding the nature and scope of Teodoro’s embezzlements. At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Ware told Teodoro that he considered his conduct to have been “despicable” and, in addition to the prison term, ordered him to pay $1 million in restitution to Timeless Toys.
According to the indictment, Mr. Teodoro, 41, carried out the fraud in part by using his position as Timeless Toys CFO to maintain a secret operating account without the knowledge of the company’s founder and chief executive officer. Teodoro transferred funds from the secret account to his own account and used the money to pay for personal expenses and expenses associated with his outside business ventures. At the hearing, the government introduced evidence that Teodoro used company funds to fund a lavish lifestyle for himself, including purchases from high-end jewelers and clothiers, fancy hotels and spas, boutique wine shops, Hawaiian vacations, and escort services.
According to the testimony of the company’s CEO, the scheme came to light only when the Bank of America, where the secret account was held, notified the CEO directly (rather than Teodoro) that the account was overdrawn. The CEO, who until then believed Teodoro had closed the account two years earlier, became suspicious and began to investigate, ultimately uncovering the scheme.
Teodoro was given until August 28, 2006, to surrender to begin serving his sentence. A federal grand jury indicted Teodoro on November 3, 2004. Teodoro, who was originally charged with five counts of wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, section 1343. Teodoro pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in September 2005.
David Callaway is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Legal Assistant Tracey Andersen. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI.
Further Information:
A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.
Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Luke Macaulay at (415) 436-6757 or by email at Luke.Macaulay@usdoj.gov.
