Federal prosecutors in New York have secured a guilty plea from a 72-year-old Williamsville man who admitted to orchestrating a massive, multi-decade investment fraud scheme. The operation systematically defrauded dozens of investors out of more than $54 million by utilizing nonexistent commercial equipment loans in a classic Ponzi-style structure that ran for nearly thirty years.
Richard Teplitsky, who served as the president of Woodhill Capital Corporation, appeared before U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr. to formally enter his plea to charges of mail fraud. The resolution of the case follows a comprehensive federal investigation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Bonanno on behalf of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.
According to court documents and statements made in the judicial proceedings, Teplitsky solicited funds from investors by promising lucrative and reliable returns, dangling projected yields as high as 14% on what he described as financing agreements for commercial equipment purchases. To the victims, the investment appeared to be a secure, asset-backed opportunity tied to tangible business equipment utilized by various commercial enterprises.
However, rather than deploying the capital into legitimate loans that would generate real-world commercial revenue and interest, Teplitsky operated a continuous cycle of deception. Instead of funding equipment purchases for borrowers, he diverted the vast majority of incoming investor capital to service obligations owed to earlier participants in the scheme. This mechanism allowed the operation to sustain the illusion of a profitable, functioning financial enterprise for generations of investors, many of whom maintained their trust in Woodhill Capital Corporation over many years.
To maintain the elaborate facade, Teplitsky fabricated a vast paper trail of fraudulent financing agreements, detailed amortization schedules, and official-looking payment documents. These falsified materials were regularly supplied to investors to reassure them that their principal was actively at work funding commercial loans. Adding to the veneer of legitimacy, Woodhill Capital Corporation routinely executed monthly distributions to its investors, systematically timed to arrive on either the 10th or the 25th of each month. These regular payouts played a critical role in encouraging victims to roll over their existing funds or invest additional capital into the fraudulent enterprise.
Court filings outline the sheer scale of the deception, noting that the operation grew exponentially over the decades. By March 2026, the fraudulent ledger maintained by Teplitsky listed approximately 1,800 fabricated equipment loans. These fictitious assets were tied to roughly 200 individual investors who believed they were holding secure positions in commercial debt instruments. By the time federal authorities intervened and dismantled the operation, the scheme had accumulated staggering total losses amounting to $54,406,742.
The federal charge of mail fraud to which Teplitsky pleaded guilty is a severe offense under United States federal law. A conviction for mail fraud carries a statutory maximum penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison, alongside substantial financial penalties that can include a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.
The investigation into Woodhill Capital Corporation and its long-running operations was spearheaded by special agents and financial analysts within the FBI, whose forensic accounting work ultimately uncovered the discrepancy between the reported loan portfolio and the actual movement of funds through the corporate accounts. Following the formal entry of the guilty plea before Judge Sinatra, the case moves toward the sentencing phase. A formal date for the sentencing hearing is expected to be scheduled by the court at a later time, where federal prosecutors and defense counsel will present arguments regarding the appropriate penalty for the decades-long fraud.
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