Feds charge White Plains CEO in ID theft

Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Feds charge White Plains CEO in ID theft

Timothy O'Connor
The Journal News

WHITE PLAINS - A onetime Westchester business person of the year stole his employees' identities and rang up more than $1 million in bank loans and credit card charges in their names, federal authorities said.

Terrence Chalk, 44, the chief executive officer of Compulinx Managed Services, a computer management firm in White Plains, was indicted along with his nephew, Damon Chalk, by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy, credit card fraud, and making false statements to banks.

He was arrested yesterday morning by FBI agents at his White Plains apartment. He pleaded not guilty in federal court to the charges.

Chalk is accused of getting loans from banks by falsely placing employees on the applications as guarantors of the loans without their knowledge. He used their names, addresses, and Social Security numbers to secure more than $1 million in bank loans between 2001 and 2006, prosecutors said. He is accused of falsely stating on the applications that the employees were owners and officers of his companies, leaving them on the hook for paying off the notes.

Chalk also ran up $100,000 in credit-card charges using accounts opened with employees' identities, federal authorities said. It wasn't immediately clear what Chalk allegedly spent the cash on.

Compulinx employs about 50 people at its 333 Westchester Ave. office. Chalk founded Compulinx 16 years ago on Long Island and moved to White Plains 11 years ago. The company's Web site was down yesterday and calls went unanswered.

Chalk and Compulinx were inducted in April into the Hall of Fame by the Business Council of Westchester, the county's chamber of commerce. He serves on the boards of the American Red Cross and Hospice and Palliative Care of Westchester. He was nominated last year to the White Plains Youth Bureau. He was named business person of the year in February by the Westchester chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

"He, in fact, has won awards with respect to how he has run his business," said Mayo Bartlett, his lawyer.

But FBI agents didn't show up at his White Plains apartment yesterday morning with a plaque. They came armed with a federal indictment when they knocked on his door at 7 a.m. at 308 Park Ridge Lane. Chalk did not answer the door despite repeated attempts by FBI agents to gain entry, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene Ingoglia.

"That doesn't exactly sound like he was being cooperative," Ingoglia said. The case agent, John Flanagan, was at the prosecution table in court yesterday.

Chalk, whose brother is a federal Drug Enforcement Administration agent, did not know he was under investigation until the FBI showed up at his apartment door yesterday, Bartlett said.

"There was no attempt on the part of Mr. Chalk to flee from the agents," Bartlett said.

Chalk, dressed in a black polo shirt, dark dress pants and shoes, nodded his head vigorously as his lawyer spoke. U.S. Magistrate Judge George Yanthis ordered Chalk held on $250,000 bond. Bartlett declined to comment on the case as he left court.

Damon Chalk, 35, of Florida, was arrested by FBI agents yesterday morning after he landed at La Guardia Airport. He worked with his uncle from 2003 until 2006, federal authorities said. He is accused of using bogus tax returns to secure a $100,000 line of credit from M&T Bank in White Plains. He has an outstanding warrant from White Plains City Court after Terrence Chalk filed a complaint with White Plains police in June charging that Damon Chalk trespassed on the company's property. He was ordered held without bail.

Reach Timothy O'Connor at tpoconnor@lohud.com or 914-694-3523.