CT man found guilty of defrauding NESN of $575,000. He bought a Tesla, BMW, and a Land Rover.

A Connecticut man was convicted by a federal jury in Boston of fraudulently obtaining over $500,000 from his former employer, New England Sports Network, according to federal authorities.

Ariel Legassa, 51, was convicted this week on seven counts of mail fraud and three counts of unlawful monetary transactions, according to federal authorities.

Legassa was arrested and subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2022.

U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled his sentencing for Dec. 20, 2023.

Federal authorities, citing evidence presented at trial, said that from about December 2020 to January 2022, Legassa “orchestrated a scheme to defraud NESN.”

In early 2021, “Legassa negotiated a contract with a New York company to provide web development services for NESN” as well as creating a “fake business under the same name as the new vendor,” federal authorities said in a statement.

Legassa then used the company to receive fraudulent payments from NESN, federal authorities said and “during the life of the contract between the New York company and NESN, in addition to approving legitimate invoices from the New York company, Legassa created and approved eleven fake invoices from his fake business.”

NESN paid Legassa’s fake company $575,500 and he spent it on personal expenses, including a private plane, a Tesla, a BMW, a Land Rover and credit card bills, according federal authorities. He further put funds into other accounts under his control, federal authorities said.

“Mr. Legassa thought he could outsmart NESN and the law. Clearly, he was wrong,” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy, also in the statement. “Today’s jury verdict emphasizes that fraudsters who abuse the trust of their employers like Mr. Legassa will be found and held accountable, no matter how deceptive and sly their schemes may be.”

Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, noted, “Everyone would love more take-home pay, but defrauding your employer clearly isn’t the answer.”

“Ariel Legassa must have launched this scheme because he thought he’d get away with it. Fortunately, our investigative team —and this jury — didn’t let him and he’ll now be held accountable for his actions,” Cohen said.

The mail fraud charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greater, authorities said. The charge of unlawful monetary transaction charges carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss, authorities said..