PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The former president of a Southwest Philadelphia wholesale business has been sentenced for stealing more than $7.8 million from the company.
Caesar DiCrecchio, 60, of Voorhees, New Jersey, will spend the next 10 years and one month behind bars.
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While head of the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market, prosecutors say DiCrecchio used company money to pay for his personal expenses, like:
• Using $1.9 million for rent at his Stone Harbor shore house;
• Issuing $1.7 million in checks to friends or relatives;
• Skimming $2.6 million in cash from the pay gate at the store’s parking lot to pay employees under the table and keep the rest for himself;
• Converting more than $1.4 million of funds into miscellaneous cash;
• Using company money to loan $180,000 to a vendor, which the vendor then repaid directly to DiCrecchio;
• And, making other personal credit card expenses.
Prosecutors say DiCrecchio hid these expenses in the company’s books and marked them as things like “maintenance” or “legal fees.” They say he also cashed checks using an unwitting victim’s name.
Authorities say he evaded income tax over several years, too, failing to report more than $2.1 million between 2014 and 2017.
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DiCrecchio pleaded guilty in April to wire fraud, money laundering, identity theft, tax evasion and related charges.
“For years, Caesar DiCrecchio used the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market like his own ATM,” Jacqueline Maguire, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division, said in a statement. “Stealing business funds for personal use isn’t such easy money after all.”
As part of his sentencing, DiCrecchio also faces three years of supervised release and must pay back more than $8 million.