Former CEO of Coupon Clearinghouse Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edwi/pr/former-ceo-coupon-clearinghouse-sentenced-10-years-prison
Department of Justice
U.S. Attorneys Office
Eastern District of Wisconsin
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Former CEO of Coupon Clearinghouse Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison
Gregory J. Haanstad, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on March 6, 2017, Thomas C. Balsiger (age: 63) of El Paso, Texas, was sentenced in Federal Court in Milwaukee to 10 years in prison to be followed by 3 years supervised release. Mr. Balsiger also was ordered to pay over $65 million in restitution.
In December 2016, following a month-long trial, Mr. Balsiger, the former CEO of the nations largest coupon clearinghouse (International Outsourcing Services), was found guilty of 10 counts of wire fraud, one count of wire fraud conspiracy, and one count of conspiring to obstruct justice.
During the sentencing hearing, Senior United States District Court Judge Charles N. Clevert remarked that in his 20 years as a judge he had never seen a more sophisticated fraud scheme as the one designed and executed by Mr. Balsiger. Judge Clevert referred to Mr. Balsiger as a chameleon and a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, who could be positively involved in his community while orchestrating a wide-ranging fraud scheme and directing a relentless effort to obstruct justice. During the sentencing hearing, Judge Clevert noted and adopted factual findings in the pre-sentence report establishing that Mr. Balsiger: (1) provided and directed others to provide false information to law enforcement and grand jury subpoena recipients, (2) coached witnesses to lie, (3) sought to intimidate and prevent witnesses from communicating with law enforcement including dispatching a private investigator to menace a witness, (4) falsely blamed cooperating witnesses for his own criminal conduct, and (5) perjured himself at trial. Judge Clevert also found that Mr. Balsigers unwarranted attacks and attempts to intimidate and threaten the prosecution team were beyond the pale and the worst abuse of the judicial process that he had seen during his tenure as a judge.
(snip)
United States Attorney Haanstad noted, The investigation that ultimately led to the prosecution and conviction of Mr. Balsiger and his codefendants stemmed from a single Milwaukee store owner contacting law enforcement to report that someone had offered her money to use her stores name to submit fraudulent coupons. Because this store owner did the right thing and contacted law enforcement, investigators ultimately were able to identify multiple coupon fraud rings and expose the wide-ranging fraud scheme designed by Mr. Balsiger.
(snip)