By: Angela Marshall
A Rockville Centre resident resigned his high-powered job at one of the nation's most renowned advertising agencies last week in the wake of charges that he conspired to defraud the government. Tom Early, a senior partner at Ogilvy and Mather, and a former co-worker were indicted by the U.S. Attorney's Office on Jan. 6.
Early, 48, has denied the charges. "Sometimes the government gets it wrong," said his attorney, Laurence Urgenson, of Kirkland & Ellis, a law firm that specializes in white-collar crime "We expect Tom Early to be fully vindicated."
David N. Kelley, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, charged Early and Shona Seifert, a former senior partner at Ogilvy, with conspiracy to defraud the United States, making false claims and statements and falsely and fraudulently inflating labor costs.
The charges stem from Early's involvement in a nationwide media campaign aimed at educating the nation's youth about the dangers of illegal drugs.
Kelley alleges that when Early and Seifert realized that the contract expenses were running "significantly less" than expected, the pair "schemed" to fraudulently inflate the number of hours that Ogilvey employees had worked. He alleges that time sheets were revised and that employees were told to record that a specific percentage of their time was spent on the anti-drug campaign, even if it wasn't.
Both defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy and 10 counts of false claims. If convicted, they face maximum sentences of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gain or loss resulting from the crime on each count.
The investigation, which is ongoing, was conducted in connection with the FBI and the Department of Defense.
