A 67-year-old resident of Napa, California was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to five years in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. TERRANCE L. COSGROVE pleaded guilty in December 2016 to two counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud for a series of embezzlements totaling nearly $4 million. The funds were stolen from a fishing company and from trusts set up by COSGROVE’s close friends to provide for those friends’ wives and children. At sentencing U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour also imposed restitution in the amount of $2,915,916, and a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $3,936,977.
“This defendant carefully tended a veneer of honesty and loyalty, while betraying those who trusted him most,” said U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. “He stole not only from his business partners but from the widow and children of close friends. The significant prison sentence imposed in this case is the proper ending to this callous crime.”
“By pillaging the finances of close friends’ families, Mr. Cosgrove subjected to further trauma the very people he pledged to help,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Carlos Mojica. “He exploited his immense responsibility as a business partner and trustee to fuel his greed. Thanks to the exhaustively detailed work of forensic accountants working alongside investigators for years, Mr. Cosgrove faces justice for his despicable betrayal.”
According to records filed in the case, COSGROVE engaged in a series of thefts. First in 2009, the partners in a fishing company called ISP Trading discovered that COSGROVE had been taking management fees in excess of the fees the partners had authorized. COSGROVE embezzled more than $3 million.
The two other embezzlement schemes involved theft from accounts where COSGROVE had been appointed as a trustee by close friends. In 2013, the widow of one of COSGROVE’s close friends discovered that COSGROVE had depleted the trust that had been set up by her husband. COSGROVE stole more than $335,000. The widow was forced to sell the family home to avoid foreclosure because of the thefts. In the third criminal scheme, between 2011 and 2012, COSGROVE diverted funds that had been set up to benefit the wife and children of a close friend. In this instance COSGROVE stole more than half a million dollars.
In his plea agreement COSGROVE admits he used the funds to live a life of luxury with multiple expensive homes, luxury cars, country club memberships and expensive hobbies such as wine collecting.
The case was investigated by the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Francis Franze-Nakamura.
Press contact for the U.S. Attorney’s Office on May 9 and 10, 2017 is Colleen Bernier at (206) 553-7970. After May 10 please contact Public Affairs Officer Emily Langlie at (206) 553-4110 or Emily.Langlie@usdoj.gov.