Mass. man pleads guilty in ADA dues scam

Darren Stokes, of Stoughton, MA, has pleaded guilty to engaging in a fraud scheme involving the creation of phony invoices for annual dues that purported to come from legitimate business and trade associations, including the ADA. Investigators are looking for ADA members who may have been victims of the scam.

Stokes pleaded guilty to eight counts of wire fraud and seven counts of mail fraud, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts. U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns scheduled sentencing for February 5, 2015.

Stokes conducted the scam from 2008 to 2012 by posing as someone from a business or trade association seeking payment for annual dues or for inclusion in an association directory.

ADA become aware of the fraud in January 2012 and alerted member and nonmember dentists who had email addresses in the association's database, according to an ADA News story. The ADA got a court order from the Boston federal court to seize the contents of the post office box identified in the phony invoices and confiscated mail addressed to the box.

Stokes' faxed invoices asked for dues ranging from $575 to $895 and cashed checks totaling more than $150,000. However, no ADA members have reported losing money through the scam.

Stokes also targeted members of the National Association of Manufacturers, Automotive Parts Remanufacturers Association, American Trucking Association, Associated General Contractors of America, and the National Hospital Association.

ADA members who received an invoice and mailed a check to Massachusetts between 2008 and 2012, and the check was either cashed or a stop payment was placed on it, are urged to contact [email protected] by December 1.