Leaders Of NJ Security Business Stole $9M From Bank Client, Officials Say

WESTVILLE, NJ — The Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Director of a Westville security business were charged for their roles in a $9 million theft operation, the United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey said.

Robert Cormier, 51, of Barrington, was charged with embezzlement by bank agent, bank fraud, money laundering, income tax evasion, and failing to collect and pay over payroll taxes.

Richard Eisler, 38, of Clementon, was charged in a different indictment with embezzlement by bank agent, money laundering, income tax evasion, and witness tampering.

Cormier was the Chief Operating Officer of Erigere Rapidus Solutions, Inc. (ERS) at the time, while Eisler served as its Deputy Director.

In 2017, Cormier started the Westville security services business. Two years later, ERS agreed to collect, count, transport, store, and deposit cash at the Federal Reserve Bank in Philadelphia on behalf of a local bank.

Eisler and other employees would retrieve cash from different customers of the bank before bringing it back to the ERS office to count and process into daily reports.

Cormier was tasked with giving the bank accurate information about the daily balances in the ERS vault, cash transactions moving in and out, the amount of each transaction, and the ending balance that was being stored.

The bank used these reports to credit customers for the cash that was collected.

During a period from March 2019 to September 2022, ERS handled millions of dollars in cash for the bank and, on a daily basis, stored the money in its vault.

From 2020 until 2022, Cormier took cash out of the ERS vault without authorization, officials said, and stole at least $3 million.

He used the embezzled funds for a variety of ERS business costs, such as paying employees, paying for the installation of security systems in offices and vehicles, paying for company vehicles, and hold more cash in the ERS bank accounts.

He also used funds to pay personal bills for him and his family, including the installation of a deck and pool, and household renovations.

This additional money was not reported to the IRS, and Cormier didn't collect and pay over payroll taxes to ERS employees, the District Attorney's Office added.

During the period of 2020 to late 2021, Eisler took cash that belonged to the bank out of the ERS vault without authorization, according to authorities.

He embezzled and stole at least $2 million that was used to pay personal bills for himself and family. These included luxury vehicle purchases, wedding rings, a wedding reception, a roof on his home, and a car loan.

Eisler didn't report this money to the IRS and tried to obstruct the case against him by working to persuade a witness to lie to federal agents.

More than $8 million was missing from the vault at the time when the bank finally ended its relationship with ERS.

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