SEC sanctions fraudster who scammed Curry Automotive

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has permanently barred Erin Verespy from the securities industry for stealing millions of dollars from Curry Automotive Group in White Plains.

Verespy, 51, of Trumbull, Connecticut, had pleaded guilty to bank fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. On March 28 a federal judge in White Plains sentenced her to five and a half years in prison.

She was the chief financial officer of Employee Benefit Solutions, a Wilton, Connecticut insurance firm that managed employee health care claims for Curry.

From 2015 to 2018, EBS billed Curry for $26 million in claims that were mostly false, according to court records.

Verespy had worked for EBS as an outside accountant, and in 2017 she joined the firm and helped keep the scheme going.

The firm’s owners, Anthony and Patricia Riccardi, have pleaded not guilty to charges.

Verespy was also an investment adviser for H.D. Vest Investment Services in Trumbull, from 2000 to 2019, and was subject to SEC oversight.

She admitted to wrongdoing in the Curry Automotive case and she consented to SEC sanctions imposed on June 17.

The agency barred her from associating with anyone involved in the securities industry or from participating in any penny stock offering.

Verespy can try to get back in the securities industry, the SEC ordered, conditioned on a number of factors, such as repayment of fines or penalties. When she was sentenced to prison, she was also ordered to pay more than $16 million in restitution and forfeit more than $1 million she had personally collected in the scheme.

Verespy is scheduled to surrender to FMC Carswell, a federal medical center and minimum security satellite camp in Fort Worth, Texas, on Thursday, June 30.