Rockville Nonprofit Head Stole $2M from Group: Court

ROCKVILLE, MD — The executive director of a Rockville nonprofit agency was sentenced Friday to four years in prison for stealing $2 million from the organization.

A federal judge sentenced Michael Parry, 59, of Windermere, FL, Friday to prison, followed by two years of supervised release and 150 hours of community service, for wire fraud and money laundering. Parry has paid restitution in full.

According to his plea agreement, in 1998 Parry was hired by the American Registry of Pathology -- which has administrative offices in Rockville and Camden, DE -- as its director of operations. He was , promoted to executive director in 2014, a role he had been acting in since October 2011.

The non-profit organization supports pathology services in the armed forces, and also engages in non-governmental work, including the funding of fellowships and research studies in pathology.

By October 2011, prosecutors say Parry controlled the bank accounts of a similar nonprofit, the International Registry of Pathology.

From February 17, 2010 to April 21, 2014, Parry used wire transfers to move money from an ARP account to an IRP account and then on to a personal account he controlled. Parry falsely described the wire transfers as related to medical studies, research grants or other activities normally paid for by ARP.

Authorities say Parry fabricated documents including: falsified invoices from a legitimate ARP vendor related to medical research studies; emails from himself to others purporting to recount conversations in which Parry was given approval for funding fictional research fellowships; and wire transfer documents purportedly showing that payments were made directly from ARP’s accounts to legitimate ARP vendors or educational institutions.

The total loss to ARP as a result of the fraud scheme was $2.19 million.