Posted on 08/17/2021 1:16:32 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Ralph Puglisi had been embezzling millions of dollars for years when he decided to try a new trick: laundering money through the pornographic website profile of a relative's fiancee, investigators found.
For a time, it worked.
With the millions he stole, Puglisi renovated his house, covered rent for one of his parents, paid for a relative's wedding expenses, traveled, chartered yachts and bought land on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, investigators found.
But higher-ups at the nonprofit where Puglisi worked began digging into ballooning expenses. It didn't take long to unearth what he had been hiding.
Puglisi, 59, who was a manager at a nonprofit tied to the University of South Florida's medical system, admitted he stole at least $12.8 million over a six-year period, according to court records filed in the U.S. District Court in Tampa. He was working as an accounts manager for the University Medical Services Association, which pays for the operation of USF's sprawling medical system.
At least $11.5 million of the stolen funds went to the adult website - mygirlfund.com, which promises users the chance to connect "with sexy girls you won't find anywhere else," according to Protiviti's investigative report.
Puglisi had about 22,000 interactions with the site, Protiviti's investigators found. He frequented the profile of a woman based in Toronto and paid more than $22,400 to fly her and her friends to Orlando three times. He spent another $43,700 to put them up at Disney World resorts, according to the consulting firm's report.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Yeah, looks like the type who would NEED to go to a pornsite to get his jollies...
And nobody ever audited?
They deserve what they got.
$11.5 million of the stolen funds went to the adult website - mygirlfund.com
He could have hired a whole harem of live in hookers for that kind of money.
True, but there was money laundering here also, some of it was coming back to the “buyer”.
I'll bet they all had fun at the the Happiest Place on Earth, Where Dreams Come True. The rides are great there.
I know a woman who embezzled $500K from the insurance company she worked for.
Life was not good for her, once she was caught. Prison, husband divorced her for financial reasons, but still stands by her. Had to pay back all of the $500K. Can NEVER hold a job again that has anything to do with money. Kids disowned her. Was in a van accident/rollover while in prison (she was driving; was well behaved enough to be a Trustee) where she was severely injured; broke both legs. Maybe she was trying to end it all?
She was the LAST person you’d ever think would do this. A very classy lady, back when I knew her.
Karma’s Gonna Git Ya! ;)
NOBODY noticed $2 million a year missing?????????
We had a bank manager who embezzled money. She gave it to her church. SMH.
No comptroller, or a lousy one? Robust standard internal controls would have scrubbed this criminal very early on.
So I guess the scam was that payouts to the porn site showed up on the university’s books as xyz services inc. and accounted for as misc expenses on the books.
Then the wannabe Hyman Roth got kickbacks of both cash as well as services rendered.
“It didn’t take long to unearth what he had been hiding.”
Six years. It took SIX years. He stole MILLIONS and threw money around like a lottery winner.
This writer is hilariously disconnected from the facts of his/her own article.
Dang! Mr. Johnson must have been rubbed down to the nub after THAT much of a workout!
I had an uncle who’s ling time trusted employee embezzled from him. Probably goes on more than people think it does.
Sorry dude...unless your name is clinton or biden or obama...you’re going to get caught.
Buying her seat in Heaven! ;)
Just add a few zeros to it and you got the Clinton Crime family swindle. Audit audits? we don’t need no stinkin audits.
The porn aspect is just clickbait. What he spent on XXX movies and sluts is small potatoes on the side. What about his family? He paid their rent, footed the bill for elaborate vacations, paid for fancy weddings, all while renovating his new mansion and buying a small island in St. Johns. Were they even curious?
people get away with this because those that should be overseeing have their own little scam going....perhaps its just that the other accountants had a secret girlfriend, boyfriend, were homos, etc and didn’t want to rock the boat.
You might add a couple dozen to that list...maybe more.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.