FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 10, 2023

            WASHINGTON – Graham Hauck, 50, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to stealing more than $330,000 from a nonprofit trade organization. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs, of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division.

            Hauck pleaded guilty to wire fraud, which carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison. As part of his plea agreement, Hauck must pay full restitution. He also will be liable for a forfeiture money judgment. U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras, who accepted Hauck’s guilty plea, scheduled sentencing for September 14, 2023. 

            According to court documents, Hauck served as president and CEO of Hauck & Associates, Inc. (“H&A”), a trade association management firm based in Washington, D.C. The victim organization, a nonprofit professional trade organization, retained H&A to serve as its management company. For the period covering January 1, 2019, through December 31, 2019, the victim organization agreed to pay H&A an annual management and headquarters fee of $148,475, with one-twelfth of the fee (approximately $12,372) being billed on the first day of each month. From March 2019 through approximately October 2019, Hauck stole roughly $336,222 from the victim organization. Although H&A was authorized to pay itself the monthly management fee from one of the organization’s bank accounts, Hauck wrote checks and initiated ACH payments from that account to H&A in amounts far exceeding what the organization owed.  Hauck also stole from one of the organization’s other accounts by writing a $100,000 to H&A and initiating three ACH transfers from the account.

            Hauck concealed his scheme both by lying to one of his employees who noticed the victim organization’s unusual activity and by creating inaccurate balance sheets that were presented monthly to the victim organization’s board of directors. The false balance sheets showed more money than the organization actually had in its accounts.

            This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

            It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kondi Kleinman and Anne McNamara, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney David B. Kent, with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Michon Tart and former Paralegal Specialists Angeline Thekkumthala and Stephanie Frijas.