Burr Ridge man sentenced to nearly 5 years in prison for swindling hospital
CHICAGO (CBS) – A man in southwest suburban Burr Ridge was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for swindling a hospital out of millions of dollars paid to acquire personal protective equipment in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dennis W. Haggerty Jr., 46, pleaded guilty earlier this year to wire fraud and money laundering charges, according to federal prosecutors. A federal judge sentenced him to a 57-month stint in prison and ordered him to pay nearly $2 million in restitution.
Prosecutors said in March 2020, Haggerty and two business partners formed a company to sell personal protective equipment. The company agreed to sell 500,000 N95 respirator masks to a hospital in Iowa for nearly $2.5 million.
Haggerty told the hospital where to wire the money, which it did on March 31, 2020, to a bank account he falsely claimed was a company account. It was actually an account for a different business he solely controlled.
Prosecutors said Haggerty spent part of the money for his personal benefit, including buying three luxury cars, paying nearly $189,000 to credit card companies, withdrawing more than $147,000 in cash and paying $20,000 to a personal friend.
The company never delivered the masks, and when the hospital questioned Haggerty, he falsely claimed the bank had no record of the hospital's payment being received. When his business partners questioned him, Haggerty altered a bank statement to make it appear as if the hospital's funds had not been received.
Prosecutors added that Haggerty pulled a similar swindle on a hospital in Illinois. After the hospital inadvertently wired more than $933,000 to Haggerty's account in connection with an order for 500,000 N95 masks that was never fulfilled, he spent some of the money for his personal use and did not return it.