CEO of Elk Grove Village firm sentenced for false claims about anti-terrorism device
The former CEO of a now-defunct Elk Grove Village company was sentenced to nine years in prison for bilking investors by claiming to sell equipment that would instantly identify terrorists and detect deadly substances.
Gregory Webb, 71, formerly of Arlington Heights, was convicted of wire and mail fraud following a July jury trial. He faced 20 years in prison.
Investigators determined Webb had lied to more than 200 investors about the viability of his company, InfrAegis, from 2007 through 2012, bilking them out of more than $9 million.
At trial, evidence was presented that showed Webb had told investors that federal and local governments agencies were buying the company's products that purported to protect the public by instantly identifying people who were on a terrorist watch list and detecting biological, chemical, radiological and water- or food-borne threats.
But in fact, the products had never been fully developed or tested and the company had never signed any contracts for the sale of those products.
Instead, investigators said Webb used the invested funds for personal use, including $800,000 on corporate credit cards spent at restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations, tobacco shops, movie theaters, sporting goods stores and an Apple iTunes account.
Many of the investors were area public safety first responders who testified at trial they had never received any return on their investments. Webb's actions “have had and will continue to have long-term consequences for many of these victims,” assistant U.S. attorneys Kruti Trivedi and Rick D. Young said in a sentencing memorandum.
Webb must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence.