Selinger arrested, charged with fraud
By HME News Staff
Updated Sat November 30, 2002
OYSTER BAY, N.Y. - Graham-Field's former CEO Irwin Selinger was charged last month with securities fraud for allegedly inflating the value of the company's stock in 1997. The allegations came just a week after Graham-Field asked Selinger to return as an adviser to help guide the company out of bankruptcy.
Graham-Field declined to respond to questions about Selinger's role at the company in the wake of the federal charges.
Selinger, 62, and Marc Chapman, 44, were arrested last week by FBI agents for a 1997 scheme to prop up the company's stock so it could be used to acquire Fuqua Industries, Newsday reported.
Selinger and Chapman allegedly inflated by $1.1 million the profit that Graham-Field reported during the quarter ending in September 1997, according to federal officials.
Investigators alleged that Chapman operated a small medical supply firm in Westchester named Bon Jon. He and Selinger then allegedly created phony documents indicating that Bon Jon had purchased $450,000 in goods from Graham-Field and had extended it an additional $700,000 in credit.
Both Selinger and Chapman pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and securities fraud at arraignment before U.S. District Court Judge Denis Hurley.
Selinger left Graham Field in 1998 after guiding the company from a $9 million distributor of medical supplies in 1984 to a $440 million conglomerate in 1997.
If convicted, the two face up to 20 years in prison and fines of $5 million. HME
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