Man Pleads Guilty In Alleged $50 Million Fraud Scheme

BALTIMORE (AP) — A former Maryland resident who ran a telemarketing business hawking light bulbs and cleaning supplies has pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and conspiracy to defraud the IRS.

Fifty-seven-year-old Eric Epstein of Pompano Beach, Florida, entered the plea Wednesday in federal court in Baltimore. He faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced in September.

Epstein was charged last year with committing mail fraud to obtain more than $50 million in money and property from various businesses , schools, churches and nonprofit groups through the fraudulent sale of light bulbs and cleaning supplies.

According to the indictment, Epstein's business, Maryland-based Midway Industries, charged customers for products they never ordered and regularly inflated product prices by 900 percent.

(© Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Follow @WJZ on Twitter and like WJZ-TV | CBS Baltimore on Facebook