By James R. Scott, The Chicago Times
March 2,2022
CHICAGO — Greed proved too much for a suburban businessman who plead guilty for swindling a hospital out of $2.5 million dollars of PPE money.
According to court documents, Burr Ridge resident Dennis Haggerty, 45, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to one count of wire fraud and money laundering after pledging to provide an Iowa hospital with much needed N95 masks, but in turn pocketed millions of dollars. Court records stated that Haggerty used the funds to pay off his credit cards and a lavish spending spree.
In March of 2020, Haggerty, former president of a Diagnostics Inc, instructed an Iowa hospital looking to purchase 500,000 N95 masks to wire cash to a private bank account he claimed was owned by Diagnostics Inc. Court documents revealed that Haggerty began withdrawing cash from the account in $10,000 increments to avoid federal currency reporting dictates. It was also revealed that Haggerty used the funds to not only pay off credit cards, but also to purchase two Maserati automobiles and a Land Rover Range Rover.
According to prosecutors, when the hospital demanded its money back after not receiving the promised masks, Haggerty boldly claimed he never received the money. In addition, Haggerty cheated his partners by falsifying bank statements.
Haggerty could face up to 30 years in federal prison, however, with the plea deal he will mostly likely serve up to 46 months.
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