NEW YORK (CN) - A Wisconsin newspaper distributor has been arrested and charged with defrauding The New York Times out of more than $227,000 in delivery fees by ordering about 8,500 new subscriptions on behalf of fictitious subscribers.
Martin T. Holtet, a former distributor for The Times, allegedly inflated the number of his subscribers in order to receive higher delivery fees from the New York paper. The New York Times Co. lost about $100,000 in printing costs, the complaint states.
Holtet, 50, was charged with one count of wire fraud and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. He was arrested Tuesday morning in La Crosse, Wis.
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