Burr Ridge Businessman Pleads Guilty To $2.5M Theft

BURR RIDGE, IL — A Burr Ridge businessman pleaded guilty Tuesday to fraud for swindling $2.5 million from a hospital, federal prosecutors said.

Dennis W. Haggerty, 45, could receive up to 20 years in federal prison. He pleaded guilty to one count each of wire fraud and money laundering.

According to a criminal complaint, Haggerty and two business partners formed At Diagnostics in March 2020 to sell personal protective equipment. This happened just as the pandemic was starting.

The company reached an agreement with a hospital in Iowa to sell 500,000 N95 respirator masks for $2.5 million.

Haggerty created an invoice to reflect the agreement and to instruct the hospital on where to wire the payment, according to the complaint.

Based on one invoice, the hospital on March 31, 2020, wired the money to a bank account that Haggerty falsely claimed as an At Diagnostics account but which was actually the account of a different business solely controlled by him.

In his plea agreement, Haggerty admitted he spent part of the money for his own personal benefit, including buying two Maserati luxury cars and a Land Rover SUV. He paid nearly $189,000 to credit card companies.

Haggerty also admitted the company never delivered the masks. When questioned about it by the hospital, he lied that the bank had no record of the hospital's payment being received, prosecutors said.

When his business partners asked about the money's whereabouts, Haggerty altered a bank statement to make it appear as if the hospital's funds had not been received.

Haggerty admitted in a plea agreement that he engaged in similar conduct with an Illinois hospital. After the hospital agreed to buy 1 million N95 masks for nearly $4.5 million, the hospital requested that an initial payment be sent to an escrow account instead of the account Haggerty provided.

When At Diagnostics failed to fulfill the hospital's order, the money in escrow was returned.

The Illinois hospital later inadvertently wired $933,000 to Haggerty's account in connection with a second order for 500,000 N95 masks that were never delivered, prosecutors said.

Haggerty admitted that he spent some of the money for his personal use and did not return any of it.