Trump ally Matt Schlapp got $750k in unsuccessful pardon push
JAN 22, 2021 | REPUBLISHED BY LIT: JAN 24, 2021
Unrepentant Ex-MiMedx CEO Gets 1 Year For Revenue Fraud
A Manhattan federal judge sentenced former MiMedx Group Inc. CEO Parker “Pete” Petit to a year in prison Tuesday, 23rd February for inflating the publicly traded biologics company’s earnings, saying a jury rightly convicted him of fraud despite his denials of guilt.
The optics makes it appear as though Schlapp must have donated some of the $750k fee he took from unremorseful Pete to the judicial fund. Why? Because judges normally tack on years for those who show no remorse in court, unlike here, where Petit’s sentence of only 12 months is well below the sentencing guidelines.
Set/Reset Deadlines/Hearings as to Parker H. Petit:
Sentencing set for 2/23/2021 at 04:00 PM before Judge Jed S. Rakoff. (lnl)
U.S. District Court
Southern District of New York (Foley Square)
CRIMINAL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 1:19-cr-00850-JSR-1
| Case title: USA v. Petit et al | Date Filed: 11/25/2019 |
| Date Filed | # | Docket Text |
|---|---|---|
| 02/21/2021 | 151 | OPINION AND ORDER 123 Motion for Acquittal as to Parker H. Petit (1); denying 125 Motion for Acquittal as to William Taylor (2); denying 125 Motion for New Trial as to William Taylor. For the foregoing reasons, the defendants’ respective motions for a judgment of acquittal and, in the alternative, for a new trial, are denied. The Clerk of the Court is directed to close the entries at docket numbers 123 and 125 (Signed by Judge Jed S. Rakoff on 2/21/21) (jw) (Entered: 02/22/2021) |
The optics makes it appear as though Schlapp must have donated some of the $750k fee he took from Pete to the judicial fund. Why? The securities fraud count carries a max sentence of 20 yrs, and the conspiracy 5 yrs in prison. He got 1/25th of that – 1 yr. https://t.co/Hs2dapUXhh
— LawsInTexas (@lawsintexasusa) February 24, 2021
The lobbying firm run by Trump ally Matt Schlapp brought in $750,000 in the final two weeks of 2020 from a former top Trump fundraiser and convicted fraudster who retained Schlapp to lobby — unsuccessfully — for a presidential pardon.
Why it matters: The substantial sum that the former fundraiser, Georgia’s Parker “Pete” Petit, paid to Schlapp’s Cove Strategies shows how valuable connections to Donald Trump were in his final days in office for wealthy felons seeking clemency from the outgoing president.
What’s new: Lobbying disclosure records filed on Thursday said Schlapp, a close informal Trump adviser, worked on a “request for a pardon and other public policy issues relating to criminal justice.”
The disclosure filing, which covered the last two weeks of 2020, said that Schlapp had contacted just one government office on Petit’s behalf: the Executive Office of the President.
Petit was not on the list of the nearly 150 pardons and commutations that the White House released during Trump’s final days in office.
Schlapp didn’t respond to inquiries about the other policy work he reported performing on the account.
The backstory: Petit, a former Atlanta health care executive, co-chaired the Trump campaign’s 2016 fundraising operation in Georgia.
A federal court convicted him of securities fraud in November. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Be smart: A host of federal convicts retained lobbyists to try to win clemency from Trump in his final days. But even the most lucrative lobbying contracts didn’t guarantee success.
Matt and Mercedes ‘Mercy’ Schlapp
Gamblin’ Judge Loses Big Time As He’s Caught Thievin’
A county district judge is alleged to have used money from his campaign finance account to feed a six-figure gambling habit at casinos.
Judge David Hittner Judgments are Not Vindictive nor Unconstitutional According to a 2020 Opinion by the Fifth Circuit
In 1992, a Fifth Circuit judge called out Senior United States District Court Judge David Hittners sentencing as vindictive and unconstitutional. Move on 18 yrs later and while a judicial complaint against David Hittner (seeking impeachment) is percolating at the 5th Cir., they affirm his outrageous sentence.
Absolutely delighted with Trump’s commutation of Goze-Wagner who was tossed into jail by https://t.co/u1sNyBBJAI and affirmed by https://t.co/Ieci2lmS0j It was a disgraceful sentencing. This criminal system truly needs a major overhaul. Read her story here https://t.co/s0R47vs0b1 pic.twitter.com/sDUlF9bybP
— LawsInTexas (@lawsintexasusa) January 24, 2021
Former Chief Executive Officer And Chief Operating Officer Of Publicly Traded Biopharmaceutical Company Found Guilty Of Accounting Fraud
Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that, following a four-week trial, PARKER H. “PETE” PETIT, the former chief executive officer of MiMedx Group, Inc. (“MiMedx”), a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, was convicted of securities fraud, and WILLIAM TAYLOR, the former chief operating officer of MiMedx, was convicted of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, to make false statements in SEC filings, and to mislead the conduct of audits.
The convictions stem from their participation in a scheme to fraudulently inflate MiMedx’s revenue.
Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said:
“As the jury found, Parker Petit and William Taylor employed secret agreements and corrupt financial inducements with four distributors to materially misstate the quarterly and annual sales revenue of MiMedx. In the process, they deceived the SEC, auditors, and the investing public, repeatedly misrepresenting the financial condition of their publicly traded company. Now they await sentencing for their crimes.”
According to the allegations contained in the Indictment and the evidence presented at trial:
MiMedx was headquartered in Marietta, Georgia, and its securities traded under the symbol “MDXG” on the NASDAQ. MiMedx sold regenerative biologic products, such as skin grafts and amniotic fluid, both directly to end users, such as public and private hospitals, and to various stocking distributors, which, in turn, resold the product to end users.
One of the most critical financial metrics disclosed in MiMedx’s public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), and touted in MiMedx’s accompanying press releases, was MiMedx’s quarterly and annual sales revenue. Under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and SEC guidance, a company like MiMedx that engages in the sale of products through a distributor may recognize revenue upon transfer of the product to a distributor if certain requirements are satisfied, including that delivery has occurred or services have been rendered, the seller’s price to the buyer is fixed or determinable, and collectability of payment is reasonably assured.
PETIT and TAYLOR repeatedly demonstrated and touted their understanding of these rules governing revenue recognition. They also publicly identified revenue as the principal metric reflecting MiMedx’s growth, and touted MiMedx’s consistent record of quarter-over-quarter revenue growth and meeting or exceeding revenue guidance in 17 consecutive quarters, from 2011 through year-end 2015.
By 2015, however, it became increasingly difficult for MiMedx to reach its revenue guidance due to decreased demand from certain distributors and the increasingly aggressive revenue targets that MiMedx had publicly announced.
Confronted with the difficulties faced by MiMedx in meeting its quarterly and annual revenue guidance by legitimate means, PETIT and TAYLOR engaged in a fraudulent scheme to falsely recognize revenue upon the shipment of MiMedx product to four stocking distributors, CPM, SLR, Stability Biologics (“Stability”), and First Medical, in the second through fourth quarters of 2015.
PETIT and TAYLOR caused MiMedx to report fraudulently inflated revenue figures to the investing public in order to ensure that the reported figures fell within MiMedx’s publicly announced revenue guidance, and to fraudulently convey to the investing public that MiMedx was accomplishing consistent growth quarter after quarter, as PETIT and TAYLOR had falsely touted to the investing public. The fraudulent scheme involved the following central features:
As to CPM, in the second quarter of 2015, PETIT and TAYLOR caused MiMedx fraudulently to recognize $1.4 million in revenue by
(1) making a $200,000 sham “consulting” payment to CPM’s owner to bribe CPM to buy MiMedx product and
(2) secretly agreeing to send CPM approximately $1.1 million of product it did not want and did not intend to sell, while promising that CPM could return the product to MiMedx and swap it for different product in a subsequent quarter.
PETIT and TAYLOR entered into the sham “consulting” agreement to conceal that the payment was a bribe to purchase product, and CPM’s owner performed no consulting work for the payment. Neither PETIT nor TAYLOR disclosed to MiMedx’s outside auditors the “consulting” payment or product swap.
As to SLR, in the third quarter of 2015, PETIT and TAYLOR caused MiMedx fraudulently to recognize $4.6 million in revenue by booking the revenue despite understanding that SLR would not make a timely payment for the product, and certainly would not do so within contractual terms.
To hide from MiMedx’s auditors that the collectability of payment from SLR was questionable, during the fourth quarter 2015, PETIT arranged for his adult children to use a shell company to loan money to SLR (money that came from a trust fund established by PETIT for their benefit), with the understanding that the loan proceeds would be used in substantial part to pay down SLR’s debt to MiMedx.
PETIT did not disclose the loan to MiMedx’s outside auditors and made false and misleading statements to the auditors about SLR’s ability to pay MiMedx.
As to Stability, in the third and fourth quarters of 2015, PETIT and TAYLOR caused MiMedx improperly to recognize $2.6 million of revenue, where they
(1) failed to agree with Stability on the essential terms of the deal, including when payment was due;
(2) reached a secret understanding that Stability could swap or return unwanted product in subsequent quarters; and
(3) understood that Stability could not pay for the product in a timely fashion. In fact, PETIT granted the right of return to Stability in a back-dated letter he hid from MiMedx’s internal accountants and outside auditors.
As to First Medical, in the fourth quarter of 2015, TAYLOR caused MiMedx improperly to recognize $2.2 million in revenue by making an undisclosed promise to First Medical that it could return any product that it could not sell and that MiMedx would not leave First Medical with any losses.
To carry out the scheme, TAYLOR sent two emails four seconds apart to First Medical. The first was a “cover story” that purported to require payment within a fixed period, as required by MiMedx’s accountants. TAYLOR forwarded the first email to MiMedx’s accounting department.
The second email, sent only four seconds after the first, memorialized the true terms of the deal, which involved an agreement to defer payment and take back product if it could not be sold.
TAYLOR hid the second email from MiMedx’s internal accountants and outside auditors. TAYLOR also arranged for a false audit “confirmation,” which falsely represented that First Medical was required to pay within a fixed period and omitted the true terms of the deal, to be provided to MiMedx’s outside auditors.
PETIT’s and TAYLOR’s fraudulent manipulation of MiMedx’s revenue caused MiMedx to report materially inflated revenue in the second, third, and fourth quarters of 2015, and for the full year 2015.
In its 2015 10-K, MiMedx reported annual revenue that was fraudulently inflated by approximately $8.2 million. Absent this fraudulent inflation of revenue, MiMedx would have missed both
(1) its quarterly revenue guidance in the third and fourth quarters of 2015 and annual revenue guidance for 2015 and
(2) analyst revenue consensus for the second through fourth quarters of 2015 and the full year 2015.
* * *
PARKER H. “PETE” PETIT, 81, was convicted of one count of securities fraud, and WILLIAM TAYLOR, 52, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, make false filings with the SEC, and mislead the conduct of audits.
The securities fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and the conspiracy count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants would be determined by the Court.
PETIT is scheduled to be sentenced before Judge Rakoff on February 23, 2021, and TAYLOR is scheduled to be sentenced before Judge Rakoff on February 24, 2021.
Ms. Strauss praised the outstanding investigative work of the United States Postal Inspection Service. Ms. Strauss also thanked the SEC, which brought a separate civil action.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward A. Imperatore, Scott A. Hartman, and Daniel M. Tracer are in charge of the prosecution.
