|
ALBANY---A federal grand jury in Albany has returned a four count indictment against the wife of a former New York attorney who is serving a sentence in federal prison for stealing from the clients of his debt relief practice known as the Law Centers for Consumer Protection of Burlington, Vt.
Carol Capoccia, 54, of Guilderland has been charged with obstructing a federal grand jury investigation and interfering with a federal forfeiture proceeding.
Capoccia, wife of Andrew Capoccia, 63, is also charged with structuring deposited and withdrawals of cash to avoid having a bank file reports of cash transactions of $10,000 or more.
Her husband, disbarred for filing frivolous lawsuits, was sentenced earlier this year to serve 15.6 years or 188 months in federal prison and three years of probation following his release. He was also ordered to pay more than $7.2 million in restitution and forfeit $2.9 million in government seized property.
Capoccia was indicted in 2003 and last March, he was convicted of defrauding thousands of people.The business advertised it would lower the amount of money owed to creditors without them having to file bankruptcy. Prosecutors said that Capoccia took their money and then directed it into his wife's bank account.
Capoccia has maintained his innocence, saying that he sold the firm to Howard Sinnott, 56, of Bennington, Vt., and Thomas Daly, 44, of Clifton Park, and that the alleged criminal activity occurred after he had left the firm. Both Sinnott and Daly have been prosecuted and sentenced for their alleged roles. Sinnott has been sentenced to three months in jail while Daly was ordered to serve one month.
Jerry Forkey, a co-defendant and a former firm executive, was sentenced to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service.
The indictment returned Friday by the grand jury in Albany is the latest twist in a case that has led to numerous convictions involving the Law Centers.
Carol Capoccia is accused of making several money transfers of just under $10,000 in a month and a half in 2001. Prosecutors say that she then made a series of deposits of money in her son's name. It is unlawful to transfer a series of cash to prevent a financial institution from filing reports required of cash transactions of $10,000 or more.
Authorities say that Carol Capoccia also tried to obstruct the investigation of her husband and others by directing a housekeeper to remove documents during court-ordered searches of their residence and say that she withdraw money from a bank account that the court had ordered frozen.
In March 2003, a federal grand jury indicted Carol and Andrew Capoccia and five other defendants on criminal charges stemming from an investigation of the Law Centers and its related debt reduction businesses that started in Albany, N.Y., but moved to Vermont in 2000.
The Law Centers went bankrupt in January 2003, owing thousands of former clients millions of dollars in prepaid fees and other monies.
The charges accused Andrew Capoccia and four other defendants with misappropriating the missing funds. The indictment did not charge Carol Capoccia with crimes in relations to the operation of the Law Centers, but did accuse her of trying to obstruct the criminal investigation by having the housekeeper remove the documents.
During pretrial proceedings in Vermont, the charges against Carol Capoccia were dropped without prejudice, meaning they could be filed again.
The indictment returned Friday in New York contains charges that are similar to those originally prosecuted against Carol Capoccia in Vermont.
She faces up to 10 years in prison on the obstruction charge and up to five years in prison on the other charges. 6-25-06
© 2006 North
Country Gazette
|
