White-Collar Crime

Indictment: Ex-Mayer Brown CIO helped bilk law firm of $4.8M in vendor billing and kickback scheme

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Already accused of teaming up with a vendor to bilk a Chicago-based international law firm of nearly $1 million, the former chief information officer of Mayer Brown is now facing charges that he and the other man stole nearly $5 million from Mayer Brown between 2004 and 2011.

The former chief information officer, David Tresch, and Nicholas Demars, who operated a company from his home in the suburb of Itasca that provided outsourced information technology personnel, were federally indicted last week on wire fraud charges, according to the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald.

They are accused of operating a fraudulent scheme in which authorities say Tresch was paid more than $1 million in kickbacks and the law firm was billed for work that wasn’t performed. All told, Mayer Brown lost $4.8 million, the feds contend, and they are seeking to forfeit homes and vehicles owned by the two men to reimburse the law firm.

A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Northern District of Illinois provides additional details.

The newspaper articles don’t include any comment from the defendants or their counsel.

Earlier coverage:

ABAJournal.com: “Former Mayer Brown CIO Arrested on Charges He Defrauded Firm of at Least $850K”

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