A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office:
Lake in the Hills Man Charged with $340,000 Scheme to Defraud
ROCKFORD — A Lake in the Hills, Ill. man appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Iain D. Johnston on wire fraud charges.
SALVATORE CRIBARI, also known as “Sal Fradillio,” 59, was indicted on Sept. 13, 2016, by a federal grand jury in Rockford and charged with nine counts of wire fraud, in connection with a scheme to defraud “Company A,” an operator of a nationwide chain of home improvement stores.
Cribari was arrested on Sept. 15, 2016, in Algonquin, Ill.
Cribari pleaded not guilty during his arraignment today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Iain D. Johnston, and he was ordered detained pending a hearing scheduled for Sept. 19, 2016 at 1:00 p.m.
According to the indictment, Cribari knowingly and intentionally stole merchandise from Company A stores located in the Northern District of Illinois.
The indictment alleges that Cribari returned the stolen merchandise to Company A without receipts, and he falsely and fraudulently presented the stolen merchandise as legitimately having been purchased from Company A.
Cribari received store credit in the form of Company A gift cards during those non-receipted returns.
The indictment alleges that Cribari fraudulently obtained more than $340,000 in Company A gift cards as part of the scheme to defraud, and Cribari subsequently used those gift cards to purchase over $310,000 of merchandise and services from Company A.
It is alleged that Cribari provided over 1,300 false Illinois driver’s license and state identification numbers to conduct non-receipted returns of stolen merchandise at Company A.
Wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and a maximum fine of $250,000, or an alternate fine totaling twice the loss or twice the gain derived from the offense, whichever is greater.
The Court may also impose a sentence of probation of one to five years, a term of supervised release of up to three years, and restitution. If Cribari is convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The indictment and arrest were announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Lake Zurich and Lake in the Hills Police Departments provided assistance in the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Talia Bucci.
Holy crap, how does one steal $340,000 from a store and then use over 1,000 different IDs to return the items?
However, the people in the store did not recognize him earlier is amazing.
How many times can a guy without a receipt return an item, without the service people not notice them.
There are only so many stores in N. Il that he could hit up. Wow…
So why isn’t this in the NWherald?
Home Creepo!
We all knew he was doing it.
Why it took so many years to prove it is up to corporate.
Sal Cribari has been steelin from Home Depot since 2008
He spread his fraudulent cards to garage sales and business leaders
Rot in Ogle County
This loser charged my credit card small amounts under $10.00 per month for several months after I ate at the restaurant once.
I had to cance the card and get reissued.
He was clearly doing this as a scam as well.
Finally justice will be served
Holy cow!
How could this guy rack up so much $$$ before he got caught?
Why doesn’t this information ever appear int he Northwest Herald?
Does he give money to someone there?
Does he represent himself as an upstanding business person in McHenry County?
So weird.
Ims? Story is the Northwest Herald TODAY!
Only a year late.
Hey Brent?
The NWH Herald HAS the story – TODAY!
Only took them a year to catch up to Cal.