NJ businessman used $2 million from scam on Rolls Royces, Rolexes
A South Jersey business owner was sentenced today to 50 months in prison for a long-running scam, cheating customers and dodging taxes while spending the proceeds on high-end vehicles, expensive watches and college tuition for his kids, according to federal prosecutors.
Mitchell Bleicher, 53, of Voorhees, previously pleaded guilty in Camden federal court to wire fraud, money laundering, and income tax evasion.
Bleicher was the owner and operator of Allied Materials Inc., a janitorial supply company based in the borough of Berlin. Allied sold cleaning supplies, office and break room supplies, food service items, safety equipment, and business printing and imprinted items.
Over a nine-year span between 2009 and April 2018, Bleicher submitted phony invoices to a company headquartered in Cherry Hill, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. The identity of "Company 1" was left undisclosed in court documents.
Bleicher spent the $1.9 million he made from his scheme on Rolex watches, two Rolls Royce automobiles, two Subaru automobiles, motorcycles, home renovations and college tuition for his children, among other items, Carpenito said.
Bleicher admitted that he paid-off two different contractors with that company to help conceal the faked expenses. Bribes included high-end dinners, professional sports games like the Philadelphia 76ers, and expensive wines, according to prosecutors.
He also failed to pay taxes on the money he received through fraud, leaving illegal proceeds off his income tax returns between 2011 and 2017, Carpenito said.
In addition to prison, Bleicher was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay back $9.5 million to "Company 1" as well as $584,255 in restitution to the IRS.
More from New Jersey 101.5: