Two charged in $4m scheme at Building 19

[Ian David]

By Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff | April 3, 2007

BROCKTON -- In what prosecutors allege was a scheme to defraud Building 19, two Massachusetts men were arraigned yesterday and three men from Virginia and Georgia were indicted on charges of stealing nearly $5 million from the discount retailer by using phony shipping documents and fictitious suppliers.

David Adams, 43, of Wilmington, a former buyer for Building 19, pleaded not guilty in Plymouth Superior Court to six counts of larceny and three counts of conspiracy. Tyrone Williams, 41, of Dartmouth, a former manager at the company's New Bedford warehouse, also pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Paul Sun, 50, and David Sun, 46, of Fairfax Station, Va., and Michael Brown, 63, of Dalton, Ga., all of whom worked for a Virginia carpet company, were indicted on Massachusetts charges that they profited illegally through the alleged scheme to defraud International Floor Crafts, a subsidiary of Hingham-based Building 19. They are scheduled to receive summonses to appear in court at an unspecified date.

The five defendants and three others also have been accused in a related 2005 civil lawsuit on racketeering charges that is pending at US District Court in Boston.

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"Two methods, the short shipment and the phantom shipment, were used by the defendants to steal," Healey told Judge Robert Cosgrove. "During a short shipment, the vendor would invoice and subsequently receive payment for more goods than were actually received in the warehouse. A phantom shipment allowed a vendor to invoice for a number of items, yet send nothing."


Defendants David Adams, 43, of Wilmington (left) and Tyrone Williams, 41, of Dartmouth were arraigned yesterday in Plymouth Superior Court in Brockton. They face larceny charges involving a purchasing scheme against Building 19. (ROBERT E. KLEIN FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)

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