Two men were arrested by federal agents last month in a scheme that allegedly pilfered millions of dollars from a major Hollywood movie studio. Roccio James Cuccia and Larry D. Collins are facing 14 different criminal charges, including charges of wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion. According to reports, Cuccia was employed by Lionsgate Films to coordinate marketing efforts for newly released DVDs and Blu-Ray disks in the form of cardboard displays.

Collins was said to have been one of the vendors Cuccia worked with. Cuccia is accused of artificially inflating the size of company orders, thereby increasing the company's payment to the vendor. Once Collins was paid for the order, he allegedly then wired a portion of the profit to an account in Cuccia's name. All told, the scheme netted roughly $2 million before Cuccia and Collins were caught. Cuccia reportedly used his portion of the profits to purchase a hybrid Toyota Camry, as well as a Mercedes-Benz automobile. If convicted on all counts, both men are facing more than 200 years in prison.

California state laws do not always completely line up with federal laws. In some instances federal laws and California state laws actually contradict each other. One notorious example is the issue of marijuana for medicinal purposes. While the state of California allows the use of marijuana in specific circumstances, federal laws do not recognize the use of marijuana as legal in any instance.

Categorised in: Wire Fraud