STRATEGIC PARTNERS
April 14, 2003
TRENTON, N.J. -- A federal grand jury on April 14 indicted Daniel Antolini III, the 47-year-old owner/operator of Executive Cash Services, on charges of bank fraud and structuring deposits to evade reporting requirements, according to a report in The Press of Atlantic City, N.J.
The indictment charges Antolini with the crimes in connection with his Mays Landing-based company's replenishing ATMs with cash for banks and other financial institutions, U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said in a news release.
The indictment also charges Antolini and his wife, Peggy Lee Antolini, 43, with evading nearly $400,000 in income taxes by underreporting their income by more than $1 million for the years 1996 through 1999.
The couple, of Egg Harbor Township and Delray Beach, Fla., is scheduled for an initial appearance and arraignment before U.S. District Judge Anne Thompson on April 15.
According to the indictment, the company maintained an operating account at Midlantic Bank, into which it deposited payments for services rendered and paid its expenses.
The company also maintained an escrow account at New Jersey National Bank, into which customer banks deposited funds that Executive Cash Services was to deliver to the customer banks' ATMs.
The indictment accuses Daniel Antolini of defrauding customer banks from July 1995 to May 1997 by diverting to his own use funds that were deposited into the escrow account by customers. He allegedly diverted a total of $462,729 from the escrow account to his own use.
On one occasion, according to the indictment, Antolini issued a $250,000 check drawn on the escrow account for the purchase of a gasoline station. Another time, he allegedly issued a $27,729 check drawn on the escrow account for the down payment on the purchase of an airplane.
According to the indictment, Executive Cash Services contracted to receive cash from CoreStates Bank to replenish CoreState ATMs or bank branches. The indictment charges that Antolini took more than $100,000 from CoreStates Bank and used the funds to replace cash taken from the escrow account that belonged to other customer banks.
The indictment also charges Antolini with purposely structuring the deposit of $287,800 with Commerce and Sun National banks in 34 separate transactions between Jan. 3 and Feb. 18, 1998, to evade the reporting requirements of deposits in amounts of $10,000 or greater.
The charges in the indictment carry a maximum penalty of 55 years in prison and a $1.35 million fine.
Antolini's defense attorney, Jerome Ballarotto of Trenton, could not be reached for comment.
