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Former Demoulas Food Buyer Pleads Guilty to Fraud

BOSTON - A former food buyer for Demoulas Supermarkets on Monday pleaded guilty to fraud committed against Demoulas and Campbell's Soup.

Wayne A. Dick, age 55, of Andover, Mass., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge George A. O'Toole to receipt of stolen monies and the filing of false U.S. income tax returns, the U.S. Attorney?s office reports.

From the fall of 1998 to May, 2000, Dick, a long-time food buyer for Demoulas, allegedly was involved in a large-scale theft of monies by food brokers and buyers associated with Demoulas Supermarkets that involved more than $800,000 in stolen checks.

The case involved two related but independent schemes to steal checks which food manufacturers made out to Demoulas Supermarkets for advertising expenses. In the first scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney's office, Dick, assisted by Daniel Martin, a former salesman for Kelloggs, stole more than $430,000 in checks made out to Demoulas by failing to generate and submit invoices for advertising (so that Demoulas was not expecting payment) and then stole the checks from the food manufacturers when they came to him. Dick then gave the stolen checks to Martin who converted the checks into cash and checks, which he shared with Dick, according to the U.S. Attorney?s office.

In the second scheme, a food broker for Advantage ESM and Dick stole additional Demoulas checks by creating false invoices to the companies the Advantage ESM food broker represented and then stealing those checks when they came in, the U.S. Attorney reports. Again, the stolen checks were brought to Martin who converted the checks at Fleet Bank and divided up the proceeds. More than $400,000 was stolen in this manner.

Demoulas Supermarkets has already been compensated for the stolen checks.

Daniel Martin pled guilty to charges of receiving stolen moneys and filing of false income tax returns on July 26, 2002. Robert Stella, Robert McCarthy, and Linda Dempski have all been charged in separate informations for their roles in the schemes. The sentencing is scheduled for November 21, 2002.
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