A Williamsville man whose financing corporation was accused of defrauding 200 investors out of nearly $55 million pleaded guilty to mail fraud in federal court Friday.
Richard Teplitsky, 72, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and $250,000 for the actions of Woodhill Capital Corporation, of which he was the president.
When Teplitsky was charged in May, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Woodhill Capital Corporation defrauded more than 100 investors out of more than $10 million. Those numbers were updated in Friday's release to show that approximately 200 investors lost $54,406,742 across about 1,800 outstanding fraudulent loans.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Teplitsky and Woodhill were funneling investor money to pay other owed investors — not to the borrowers and businesses the investors believed it was going to. This scheme took place from the mid-1990s through March 2026.
Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.