Former VP of Downers Grove Company Pleads Guilty to $3.9M Fraud Scheme

A former vice president of a Downers Grove-based company pleaded guilty Tuesday to a fraudulent invoicing scheme in which he obtained more than 100 company checks totaling $3.9 million, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago.

Steven M. Brazile, 52, of St. Louis, MO, was a vice president in the unnamed company's St. Louis office, where he managed the information technology functions and had the authority to approve company payments to vendors up to $100,000.

Between December 2006 and December 2009, Brazile approved false invoices purporting ti be from vendors for goods and services that were never provided to the corporation, said Randall Saamborn, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois.

As a result, the company issued approximately 104 checks totaling slightly more than $3.9 million, which Brazile deposited into a bank account that he controlled, Samborn said.

The fraud proceeds were deposited into other accounts, including $250,000 placed into a brokerage account, which he agreed to forfeit.

Brazile pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of fraudulently obtained securities. He was released on his own recognizance pending sentencing, which U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo set for Nov. 13, Samborn said.

Brazile faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, although his plea agreement with the government anticipates a range of 51 to 71 months in prison, per federal sentencing guidelines.

Brazile also agreed to restitution and forfeiture orders in the amount of $3,902,880, including approximately $126,000 seized from his bank accounts, an antique 1959 Ford F100 pickup truck and $79,545 in proceeds from the sale of a 1965 Ford Tudor classic automobile.

The guilty plea was announced by Gary S. Shapiro, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Cory B. Nelson, special agent-in-charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.