Shipping Clerk Gets 1 To 3 Years In Prison For $400K Theft From Westchester Business

A 65-year-old Connecticut man who was a shipping clerk for a Westchester business has been sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison for stealing more than $400,000 from his employer through a double-billing scheme that directed funds to a Florida company he created for the scam.

Milton Light of 7 Mountain Orchard Road, Bethel, CT, pleaded guilty to 13 theft-related charges that stemmed from the scam, which ran from 2005 to 2008, according to Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore.

Light worked for Armonk-based Inter-wire Products, Inc., a wholesaler of industrial wire. He was in charge of coordinating shipments of products from its divisions to its customers.

A joint investigation involving the District Attorney’s Office and North Castle Police began in June of 2008 after the company reported a pattern of discrepancies and the discovery that $402,784 had been stolen.

DiFiore said that during the course of the investigation it was discovered that Light set up a fictitious company called Coastal Freight Forwarders in Florida. Between Dec. 1, 2005, and June 17, 2008, the Light directed product shipping payments from Inter-wire Products to Coastal Freight Forwarders by duplicating and altering other shipping paperwork such as a bill of lading and submitting both orders for payment.

This resulted in Inter-wire Products paying for shipping twice: once for the legitimate customer, the other to the fictitious company. The checks were sent to the bogus company in Florida, where the Light maintained a bank account.

In addition to state prison, a Restitution Judgment Order in the amount of $402,784 was ordered by the court.

Assistant District Attorney Robert Mayes and Assistant District Attorney Brian Fitzgerald of the Economic Crimes Bureau prosecuted the case. Light pleaded guilty to:

• one count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class “C” Felony,
• six counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, Class “D” Felonies,
• and six counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, Class “E” Felonies.