Suburban men plead guilty to bilking insurance agency

Two suburban men charged with bilking a suburban insurance industry association of more than $1 million over six years recently pleaded guilty to the charges.

James Lurito, of Algonquin, pleaded guilty to theft, a class 4 felony, and was sentenced to one year in prison. Lurito, 64, received credit for the 120 days he has spent in custody. Harvey Cruz, of Plainfield, pleaded guilty to the class X felony of organizing a continuing financial crimes enterprise. Cruz, 44, was sentenced to seven years in prison. He received credit for the 355 days he has spent in custody since his arrest in December 2010.

Authorities said that Cruz served as the information technology manager for the Million Dollar Round Table, a Park Ridge association with a membership of 30,000. After working there for nine years, Cruz organized an embezzlement scheme in 2003 in which he enlisted the participation of Lurito, an independent information technology consultant, Cook County prosecutors said.

Authorities said Lurito submitted phony bills which Cruz approved. They say Lurito then transferred 90 percent of the payment to Cruz or a company Cruz controlled, keeping 10 percent for himself.

The thefts occurred between 2003 and 2009 when the fraudulent payments were discovered.