DOJ nets two more guilty pleas in E-Rate fraud charges

Former co-owners of DeltaNet, a New Jersey computer service provider, have agreed to plead guilty to charges related to defrauding a government program designed to help schools and libraries in poor areas connect to the Internet, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. The DOJ filed conspiracy charges Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas in Kansas City against Benjamin Rowner and Jay H. Soled, former owners of DeltaNet, for their role in defrauding the E-Rate program, the DOJ said. The pair conspired to defraud the E-Rate program by submitting false statements and keeping important information from the Universal Service Administrative Co., which administers the E-Rate Program for the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, the DOJ said. Rowner and Soled participated in the conspiracy between 1999 and 2003, and the fraud affected schools from California to New York, the DOJ said. With their plea agreement, pending a judge's approval, the men agreed to cooperate with the DOJ's ongoing investigation into E-Rate fraud.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/04/24/DOJ-nets-two-more-guilty-pleas-in-E-Rate-fraud_1.html