Former Sanovas president & CEO Larry Gerrans was sentenced yesterday to 135 months in prison for wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to defraud the medical device company.
U.S. District Judge Edward M. Chen handed down the sentence following a guilty verdict after a two-week trial in San Francisco in January 2020. The jury also found Gerrans, 49, of San Anselmo, Calif., guilty of engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property, making false statements to a government agency, contempt of court, witness tampering and obstruction of justice.
Evidence presented at trial showed that in 2015, Gerrans transferred more than $2.6 million from Sanovas to himself and two shell companies he controlled, Halo Management Group and Hartford Legend Capital Enterprises. Gerrans used that money to buy a $2.57 million home in San Anselmo. At least $2.3 million of this money was laundered through Hartford Legend before being paid to the escrow account to purchase the house, according to federal prosecutors.
Gerrans also used money he took from a company retirement account in 2013 and 2014 to buy a Maserati and a diamond ring and to pay his rent, and later asked the San Rafael-based company’s newly created board of directors to reimburse him for the money, prosecutors said. They also presented evidence showing that Gerrans used a Sanovas corporate credit card in 2017 to pay for a $44,000 vacation timeshare, $12,500 for carpeting for his home, and $32,000 to pay property taxes.
Evidence at trial further showed that Gerrans provided false documents to the FBI during the criminal investigation, and that after he was first charged in the case he violated a court-ordered bond condition, attempted to tamper with a witness and obstructed justice, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.
In addition to the prison term, Chen ordered Gerrans to serve a 3-year term of supervised release to begin after the prison term.
Sanovas (San Rafael, Calif.) makes imaging technology as well as devices for interventional lung; ear, nose and throat; and urology and gynecology procedures.
