CEO admits fraud in nurse recruitment case
The chief operating officer of a nursing recruiting company in O'Hara admitted Wednesday that he defrauded his employer out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Anthony J. Aliucci, 39, who was a star quarterback at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer to a single count of mail fraud for what prosecutors call a scheme to defraud Global Nursing Solutions Inc., which has offices on Sigma Drive.
The company recruits nurses from foreign countries to work at hospitals throughout the United States.
Prosecutors say that Aliucci, who lives in the Mars area of Butler County, owned and operated a company known as Nurse Resource Group Inc., which had a mutual-services agreement with and received payments from Global.
Aliucci lied to Global when he told the company that Nurse Resource Group had recruited, prepared and incurred costs for nearly 200 foreign nurses between October 2003 and May 2005.
Prosecutors said Aliucci became vice president and chief operating officer of Global in May 2005, a position he held for two years.
He formed and incorporated a company known as International Healthcare Corp. in June 2005, a fact that he concealed from other Global officials, say authorities.
Aliucci, in his capacity as chief operating officer of Global, is accused of paying International Healthcare $176,000 for services that never were performed. He also is accused of lying about the costs of services that other companies provided to Global.
Prosecutors said Aliucci acknowledged defrauding Global out of at least $400,000 but less than $1 million.
Aliucci was the quarterback at Indiana University of Pennsylvania when the team reached the NCAA Division II playoffs from 1989-91. The team lost to North Dakota State in the 1990 Division II National Championship Game.
He was a first-team, Division II All-American in 1991. Aliucci finished second in the voting that year for the Harlan Hill Award, the Division II equivalent to the Heisman Trophy, awarded annually to the top college football player.
