In September 2019, longtime regional sports network NESN welcomed a new Vice President of Digital. He was previously Creative Director of Digital Media at NBC Sports and before that spent 20 years working at such organizations as ESPN, Kaulike Digital, Fusion Productions and Palmside.
Now, this native of Argentina has been convicted of mail fraud and unlawful monetary transactions in an embezzlement case that saw the digital VP vociferously deny the allegations.
As such, Ariel Legassa, who resides today in Connecticut, faces a sentence hearing on December 20 after being pronounced guilty by a U.S. District Court in Boston of fradulently obtaining more than $500,000 from New England Sports Network.
Legassa in February 2022 was arrested and subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury. NESN claimed that Legassa created and secretly controlled a straw vendor, caused NESN to make payments to the vendor, and used the funds to pay personal expenses.
At the time, Legassa’s attorney, E. Peter Parker, filed a pleading with the court stating that NESN was not defrauded or deceived. Rather, through its CEO Sean McGrail and CFO Ray Guilbault, who Legassa reported to, NESN “agreed to, approved, and knew in advance … that Legassa would establish a vendor company through which he would receive payments for developing direct to consumer (DTC) digital capabilities.”
Thus, Parker argued, NESN knew that Legassa would control the vendor and that NESN’s payments to the vendor would actually go to Legassa. “NESN then approved each invoice submitted by the vendor and issued payments,” Parker claimed. He further stated that “this unorthodox arrangement, approved by McGrail and Guilbault, was the only way that NESN would be able to develop and launch a DTC product on the timetable that NESN’s owners had set.”
With an on-time launch was critical to the success of NESN’s app, Parker assailed NESN’s lawsuit as “an excuse to drive Legassa out of the company right before the launch of the DTC technology. McGrail and Guilbault can now claim credit for and profit from the work Legassa did.”
That argument fell flat at trial, where evidence was presented. Jurors were shown how in early 2021, Legassa negotiated a contract with a New York company to provide web development services for NESN. At the same time, Legassa created a fake business under the same name as the new vendor. Legassa, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Massachusetts said, then used this company to receive fraudulent payments from NESN.
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 phony invoices from his fraudulent business, the Attorney’s Office shared.
In all, NESN paid Legassa’s fake company $575,500.
Legassa then spent the funds on personal expenses, the Attorney’s Office says — including a private plane, a Tesla, a BMW, a Land Rover and credit card bills. He also transferred the funds into other accounts under his control.
“Mr. Legassa thought he could outsmart NESN and the law …. Clearly, he was wrong,” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “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’s Boston Division, added, “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.”
The charge of mail fraud provides for 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.
The charge of unlawful monetary transactions provides for 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. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
