Lakewood Man Sentenced To 7 Years For $16M Fraud Scheme

LAKEWOOD, CO — A Lakewood man was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering, U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn announced.

David Rietz, 60, organized a scheme that defrauded his nonprofit health care employer of more than 16 million, according to court records. In addition to his prison sentence, Rietz is ordered to pay $4,197,775.

Rietz inflated quotes for computer services that were submitted through another company owned by a co-conspirator, Dunn's office said. Rietz approved millions of dollars in inflated payments before the fraud was discovered, court documents show.

Proceeds went back Rietz and his co-conspirators through a third company, which returned profits to Rietz in the form of payments on fake contracts for goods and services, gold coins and cashier checks, Dunn's office said.

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The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service's criminal investigation unit.

Rietz was sentenced Dec. 14. His co-conspirators include Richard Cartwright and Lyle Perry, who were sentenced in 2019. Cartwright is serving five years in prison, and he too was ordered to pay more than $4 million in restitution. Perry, who participated in the money laundering but "not the underlying fraud," was ordered to serve three years in prison, the state's U.S. Attorney's Office said. Perry was ordered to pay around $2.6 million in restitution.

"Honest and law-abiding citizens are fed up with those who use deceit and fraud to line their pockets with other people's money," said Andy Tsui, a special agent with the Internal Revenue Service's criminal investigation unit.

"The role of IRS Criminal Investigation becomes even more important in embezzlement and fraud cases due to the complex financial transactions that can take time to unravel. Individuals who engage in this type of financial fraud should know they will be held accountable."

After serving his prison sentence, Rietz will be under three years of supervised release, officials said.