Former Goss Executive Gets Year in Prison for Fraud

CONCORD, NH—The former international trade finance manager for Goss International in Dover, NH, has been sentenced to a year in federal prison and two years of supervised release for defrauding a number of overseas clients through a shell company formed with a Boston banker, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported.

Paul Wilson, the ex-international trade finance manager, defrauded Goss customers of approximately $148,000 between 2004 and 2008, the paper said, quoting U.S. Attorney John Kacavas. He pleaded guilty in January to three counts of wire fraud.

Wilson colluded with James Bender, a senior vice president at Sovereign Bank in Boston, to create shell companies that billed Goss clients for work that was not done or performed by Wilson in the course of his duties with Goss.

Five-figure invoices of bogus charges were sent to Goss clients in Mexico and Brazil, the Union Leader reported. The victimized companies then wired payment to a bank account controlled by Wilson. The scheme was discovered when one of the victimized clients contacted Wilson's successor at Goss to inquire about one of the fraudulent invoices.