More guilty pleas in deaf-services case
Rockville company at center of fraud conspiracy, prosecutors say
More defendants in a multistate federal case involving executives of Rockville deaf services company Viable pleaded guilty last week to conspiring to defraud a Federal Communications Commission program that helps the deaf, authorities said.
Pleading guilty in federal court in Trenton, N.J., to conspiracy to commit mail fraud were Kim E. Hawkins, an owner of Master Communications in Nevada, Mascom LLC in Texas and KL Communications in Arizona; Larry Berke, a KL partner; Alfia Iskandarova, a former interpreter for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Interpreting Services of New York; and Robert Z. Rubeck of Surprise, Ariz.
Prosecutors say the defendants submitted more than $2.5 million in fraudulent billings to the FCC program that helps people with hearing disabilities make phone calls using interpreters and online cameras. Sentencing is scheduled for June 28.
Last month, Joshua Finkle and Irma Azrelyant, co-owners of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Interpreting Services, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and are slated to be sentenced on June 29.
In January, Anthony Mowl, 25, former assistant vice president of business development for Viable, and Donald Tropp, 25, former Viable human resources manager, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. They are scheduled to be sentenced on June 28.
That leaves more than a dozen defendants who still face trial, including Viable president John T.C. Yeh and a brother, vice president of corporate strategy Joseph Yeh. The Yehs, who are charged with conspiracy to defraud the government and other crimes, are set to be tried on May 24 in New Jersey.