Former HD Flooring Buyer Pleads Guilty to Scheme

Atlanta, GA, July 1, 2008--Former Home Depot flooring buyer Anthony Tesvich pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Atlanta to four crimes, including tax evasion and fraud.

Tesvich orchestrated a kickback scheme that gave him millions of dollars. Several colleagues also pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, plus gifts such as cars and luxury home improvements, according to documents filed in federal court.

Tesvich was rewarding the former Home Depot managers for giving  Home Depot contracts to selected overseas companies that Tesvich had relationships with, the prosecutor said.

Tesvich was fired from Home Depot in 2005 after a 19-year career. He had set up companies in the U.S. to represent the foreign flooring suppliers.

Federal prosecutor John Fitzpatrick said that Tesvich gave "cash in fast food bags that he called french fries and milkshakes to his former colleagues."