Two Naples men sentenced to prison for wire fraud

Two Naples men who pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud have been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison.

John P. Skubinski, 55, and Melvin A. Slawik Jr., 68, must also pay $536,200 in restitution, U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida says.

Skubinski and Slawik owned a company called Blue Hill Buffalo Consulting LLC in Collier County in 2020. In July of that year, during the coronavirus pandemic, a victim was looking for a vendor to supply nitrile gloves to the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. The duo, prosecutors alleged, lied and said they had nitrile gloves in a warehouse, then signed a contract falsely representing they could deliver 38,300 boxes of nitrile gloves after receiving $536,200. On July 30, 2020, the victim wired the funds to Blue Hill Buffalo Consulting, according to prosecutors.

Skubinski and Slawik never provided the gloves and instead provided excuses, attributing the delay to issues with U.S. Customs, the indictment says.

Bank records showed Skubinski and Slawik used the money from the victim to fund their own lifestyles and expenses, prosecutors say.

After serving 15 months in prison, Skubinski and Slawik will be on supervised release for three years, according to court documents.

The FBI investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Yolande G. Viacava. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie A. Simonsen is handling the forfeiture.