Avon Resident Sentenced in Strength Training Supplement Embezzlement Case

AVON, CT — An Avon man was slapped with a two-year prison sentence in Friday on Friday in an embezzlement case involving a strength-training supplement company, authorities said.

Deirdre M. Daly, the United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Craig Larsen, 54, of Avon, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Alker Meyer in New Haven to 24 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for embezzling more than $200,000 from his employer.

According to court documents and documents filed in court, Larsen was employed by Maximum Human Performance, also known as MHP, a New Jersey-based company that provides supplements for bodybuilding, strength, weight loss and fitness.

During about November 2012, Larsen became the head of MHP’s quality control division and had authority to approve bills submitted to MHP by its vendors, according to court documents.

Between approximately November 2013 and February 2015, Larsen presented fraudulent invoices to MHP that falsely represented that a company he controlled, R.E.T.S., had performed quality control services for MHP when no such services had been provided, Daly said.

Daly said through the "scheme," Larsen oversaw about 40 false invoices that were submitted to MHP requesting the payment of nearly $204,000 for services purportedly performed by R.E.T.S.

He then used his authority to approve the invoices for payment, Daly said.

Judge Meyer ordered Larsen to pay restitution of $203,988.71.

On Jan. 25 of this year Larsen pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of money obtained by fraud, Daly said.

Between 2007 and 2009, LARSEN stole approximately $100,000 from a previous employer, Daly said. An attorney at the time, he served as the company’s vice president of legal and regulatory affair, Daly said. He has since been disbarred, she said.

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