Former Owner And CEO Of Telecommunications Construction Company Pleads Guilty To Commercial Bribery And Fraud Offenses

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, announced today that ANTHONY TEPEDINO-the founder, chief executive officer ("CEO"), and owner of a now-defunct telecommunications construction and engineering company (the "Construction Company") formerly based in New Jersey-pled guilty to commercial bribery, fraud, and aggravated identity theft offenses. As part of his plea, TEPEDINO agreed to forfeit more than $5 million in proceeds from his illegal schemes and pay restitution of more than $25 million. TEPEDINO pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman and is scheduled to be sentenced on February 17, 2027.

"Anthony Tepedino's guilty plea today is another reminder that this Office will vigorously prosecute those who corruptly place their personal greed above the law," said U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald. "Tepedino engaged in a years-long scheme to embezzle millions of dollars and pay more than a million dollars in commercial bribes. He also used his ill-gotten gains to fund a lavish lifestyle-while his company and his creditors were left holding the bag."

As alleged in the Information, Indictments, and other public filings in this case:

From at least in or about 2017 through in or about 2024, TEPEDINO engaged in a series of schemes to defraud the Construction Company's largest customer (the "Victim Company"), its largest creditor (the "Victim Bank"), and the Construction Company itself. The Construction Company was in operation for over a decade and eventually grew to earn hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue annually and to employ more than 500 people. To carry out his schemes, TEPEDINO and others formed shell companies, created fake invoices, and looted the Construction Company of more than $5 million. TEPEDINO then used some of those proceeds to bribe an employee of the Victim Company and to make millions of dollars in payments to himself, his relatives, and his creditors.

Beginning in or about 2018, TEPEDINO and a co-conspirator ("CC-1") submitted false invoices to the Construction Company to generate fraudulent payments to a non-operational shell company ("Shell Company-1") controlled by CC-1. To conceal their scheme, TEPEDINO and CC-1 falsely claimed Shell Company-1 was owned by a third party ("Individual-1") and had CC-1 impersonate Individual-1 when communicating with the Construction Company on behalf of Shell Company-1. This scheme continued until at least in or about September 2024, by which time TEPEDINO and CC-1 had stolen more than $5 million from the Construction Company.

From in or about 2020 through in or about September 2024, TEPEDINO used some of the money he stole from the Construction Company to fund more than $1 million in commercial bribe payments to a second co-conspirator ("CC-2"), who was a senior manager at the Victim Company. These bribes were made in exchange for CC-2 steering new contracts worth millions of dollars to the Construction Company, assigning work to the Construction Company, and approving invoices submitted by the Construction Company. In total, the Victim Company paid the Construction Company more than $300 million during the approximately four years that TEPEDINO was bribing CC-2.

While defrauding the Construction Company and bribing CC-2, TEPEDINO also defrauded the Construction Company's largest lender, the Victim Bank. From in or about late 2021 through early 2022, TEPEDINO obtained more than $18 million in commercial credit from the Victim Bank on behalf of the Construction Company. As part of this credit application, TEPEDINO made and caused to be made false statements and omissions regarding the Construction Company's relationship with Shell Company-1 and his dealings with CC-2.

Finally, to conceal his offense conduct from law enforcement, in or about September 2024 and thereafter, TEPEDINO attempted to engage in witness tampering by seeking to cause CC-1 and CC-2 to adopt false exculpatory narratives to explain their criminal conduct.

After TEPEDINO's crimes were discovered, the Construction Company went out of business, leaving its employees out of work and leaving the Victim Bank with more than $25 million in unpaid loans.

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TEPEDINO, 62, of Manalapan, New Jersey, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years in prison.

The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Mr. McDonald praised the outstanding investigative work of the Special Agents and Task Force Officers of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York City Department of Investigation, the New York Regional Office of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's Office of Inspector General, and the New York Field Office of Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation.

This case is being handled by the Office's Public Corruption Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rebecca T. Dell, Jessica Greenwood, and Matthew J. King are in charge of the prosecution.