2 Men Charged in Billing Scheme

Two Santa Clarita Valley men who allegedly sent false bills to firms across the country for postage meter supplies from their Valencia company were charged Thursday with making false and misleading statements, the Los Angeles city attorney’s office said.

Daniel Mark Lynch, 45, of Canyon Country, and John Harry Dougherty, 57, of Newhall, were investigated after three businesses--one from as far away as Greenwich, Conn.--complained to the Postal Inspection Service, authorities said.

Last March, the men and their firm, International Copy Products Distributors Inc., allegedly sent bills of $203.09 and $213.79 for postage meter supplies to firms that never ordered them, said Deputy City Atty. P. Greg Parham, who is prosecuting the case.

Bills to a Las Vegas lumber company, a Chippewa Falls, Wis., shoe manufacturer, and a Greenwich, Conn., furniture maker were the basis of the complaint against the men, Parham said.

“Perpetrators of this type of crime will take advantage of weaknesses in a large company’s billing department,” Parham said. “They will attempt to shoot an invoice through hoping that it isn’t picked up and that a check is issued.”

If convicted, Lynch and Dougherty each face a maximum prison sentence of four years or fines of up to $20,000, Parham said. They are scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 29 in Los Angeles Superior Court.