Sparta resident sentenced in phony lease scheme gets more than 16 years

Charles Schwartz also ordered to pay $155 million in restitution and forfeiture NEWARK - The former owner and president of Allied Health Care Services, Inc., an Orange, N.J., durable medical equipment corporation, was sentenced today to 195 months in prison for organizing and executing a $135 million phony lease scheme that caused losses of more than $80 million and victimized more than 50 financial institutions, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Charles K. Schwartz, 58, of Sparta pleaded guilty on April 13, 2011, to one count of mail fraud. Schwartz was previously charged by complaint and arrested by special agents of the FBI on Sept. 2, 2010. He has been in federal custody since that time. Schwartz entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton, who imposeded the sentence in Newark federal court.