COURTS

Barrington man pleads guilty to $200,000 fraud scheme

Journal Staff

PROVIDENCE — A former construction project manager for a Newport real-estate development company admitted in U.S. District Court on Thursday to creating a scheme that defrauded banks, construction companies and his employer of more than $200,000, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Andrew Weisman.

Gregory Meeker, 57, of Barrington, pleaded guilty to 12 counts of bank fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft, according to a news release from Weisman.

Meeker oversaw real-estate development projects for Landings Real Estate Group (Landings), including the Newport Beach Club and Long Meadow Landings projects. He began defrauding the company within two months of starting work there in 2015, according to Weisman.

Meeker would submit invoices to Landings, many of which were false or inflated, in the names of subcontractors. Landings made checks payable to the subcontractors that were then provided to Meeker for delivery. Instead of delivering the checks to the subcontractors, Meeker forged endorsements on the back of the checks and deposited them into his own bank account.

Meeker admitted that in some instances, false invoices and subsequently forged endorsements on checks bore the names of individual subcontractors as opposed to business names, including at least two individuals known to him.

Meeker admitted that he provided Landings with false paperwork related to GMC Construction, an entity he previously operated, including a false name and address, and the use of the Social Security number of an unrelated person. He prompted Landings to issue more than $12,000 in checks to GMC Construction, which he endorsed and deposited into his own bank accounts.

Meeker also admitted that he forged the endorsement of the Town of Portsmouth on the back of three checks made payable to “Town of Portsmouth — Inspection Department.” He deposited the checks into one of four bank accounts he used for the scheme.

 Meeker is scheduled to be sentenced on April 7.