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FIVE MEN INDICTED IN CONNECTICUT IN CFC SCHEME
Release Date: 08/13/2001
Contact Information:
FOR RELEASE: MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2001
FIVE MEN INDICTED IN CONNECTICUT IN CFC SCHEME
Luke C. Hester 202-564-7818 / hester.luke @epa.gov
Luke C. Hester 202-564-7818 / hester.luke @epa.gov
The thirty-two count indictment of Barry W. Himes of Lyme, Conn.; John M. Mucha of Guilford, Conn.; Richard A. Pelletier of Bolton, Conn.; Douglas E. Castle of Huntington, N.Y.; and Alfredo Vega of Hato Rey, Puerto Rico was announced on July 13 in U.S. District Court in New Haven, Conn. Between 1995 and 1998 the defendants allegedly engaged in a scheme to illegally import hundreds of tons of highly restricted chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) into the United States in the names of several shell entities. The scheme allegedly involved a $24 million tax fraud, wire fraud and a money laundering operation. Importation of CFCs is restricted under the Clean Air Act. The release of CFCs into the atmosphere damages the earth’s ozone layer which protects people from the harmful effects of ultraviolet light such as skin cancer and cataracts. CFCs also destroys plant life and crops. Four other individuals, Pavel Perlov of Chelsea, Mass.; Juan Carlos Gorbea of San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Rudi Endres and Alicia Keigwin both of Berwyn, Pa., previously pleaded guilty from this investigation. If convicted on all charges, Himes, Mucha, Pelletier, Castle and Vega face maximum sentences that could involve long prison terms and millions of dollars in fines, tax liabilities and forfeitures. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigations Division, the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Customs Service. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Haven.
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