United States of America v. Frank Nappo

Corcord, New Hampshire criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1349.

Rye man Frank Nappo, 56, owned Op4G and Slice market research companies based in New Hampshire and Illinois, respectively. Clients would hire the companies to conduct market research surveys. As part of their business model, Op4G and Slice maintained “panels” consisting of individuals potentially eligible to take surveys. Nappo was the Chief Executive Officer of Op4G.

In 2014, conspirators decided to increase Op4G revenues by generating fabricated survey data. Nappo joined the conspiracy. To execute the scheme, the conspirators recruited “ants,” who pretended to be legitimate survey takers but instead were paid a nominal fee for completing surveys that produced false market research data. Some of the conspirators even served as “ants” and fraudulently took large quantities of surveys themselves, receiving significant payments.

To evade detection, the conspirators exchanged instructions with each other and the “ants.” These instructions included directions on how to answer survey screener questions, provided parameters on how long “ants” should remain on surveys, and encouraged the use of virtual private network (VPN) services to conceal real IP addresses. Conspirators later spun off the fraudulent operations to a new company, Slice. Nappo provided bookkeeping and payroll-related services for the conspiracy and made payments for the “ants.”

The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, up to 3 years of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

The Defendant elected to plead guilty.