A former pharmaceutical executive from Northville has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison for his role in providing false financial documentation to a bank. Theodore Toloff, 65, admitted to his actions and was sentenced this Tuesday, also receiving two years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Toloff pleaded guilty earlier in January and has been ordered to not only serve prison time but to also pay $1.3 million in restitution to the affected lenders. The fraudulent activity involved inflating accounts receivable by $18 million, which allowed the now-defunct Frank W. Kerr Company, a pharmaceutical wholesaler formerly based in Novi, Michigan, to inappropriately borrow from its revolving credit agreement. The agreement itself was supposed to allow Kerr to borrow up to $60 million, but only based on legitimate calculations of accounts receivable and inventory.
According to the Justice Department's official website, U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison highlighted the importance of corporate executives being held accountable, saying, "Corporate executives should be held to the same standard of honesty as anyone else when they interact with lending institutions." Ison also emphasized that dishonesty in the financial sector could make loans more difficult and expensive for honest consumers and businesses.
Adding to the discussion, Cheyvoryea Gibson, the FBI’s Special Agent in Charge of the Michigan division, stressed the significance of integrity in financial systems. The FBI encourages those with information related to financial crimes to come forward and report their tips. "The defendant admitted to providing false documents to a financial institution, undermining the laws and integrity of our financial systems," Gibson stated, as per the Justice Department. The public can submit tips via phone at 1-800-CALLFBI or online at tips.fbi.gov.
