Richard Teplitsky

Convicted by guilty plea; sentencing pending. Teplitsky, president of Woodhill Capital Corporation, pleaded guilty to mail fraud after prosecutors said he ran a decades-long Ponzi scheme with a total loss of $54,406,742 and roughly 1,800 fabricated “loans” owed to about 200 people.

Introduction

Richard Teplitsky, 72, of Williamsville, New York, pleaded guilty to mail fraud after admitting he defrauded dozens of people out of millions of dollars in a scheme that ran from the mid-1990s to March 2026 — a total loss of $54,406,742 . As president of Woodhill Capital Corporation, Teplitsky told people their money would fund loans to businesses borrowing for commercial equipment, promising returns as high as 14 percent or more . Instead, prosecutors say, most of the money simply paid what Woodhill owed to earlier participants — a Ponzi structure running for roughly three decades .

Background Information

Woodhill Capital’s pitch was specific and paperwork-heavy: people who provided money received loan documents, copies of equipment financing agreements between Woodhill and borrowers, and amortization schedules laying out monthly payments, which typically arrived on the 10th or 25th of the month . The documentation made the arrangement look like a genuine lending operation with a steady repayment rhythm . But between the mid-1990s and March 2026, Teplitsky did not use most of the money to fund loans to borrowers at all; he created fraudulent equipment financing agreements and amortization schedules falsely representing that the money was being lent onward .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

The plea hearing before U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr. put the scale on the record: as of March 2026, Woodhill owed payments to approximately 200 people based on approximately 1,800 outstanding fraudulent “loans,” with a total loss of $54,406,742.00 . Mail fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; sentencing will be scheduled at a later date . The scheme’s longevity is its defining fact — the fake-loan machine ran for roughly thirty years, long enough that people who joined as working adults are now retired, with the promised 14-percent returns sustained entirely by new money coming in the door .

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Bonanno is prosecuting the case, which resulted from an FBI investigation under Special Agent-in-Charge Allen D. Davis, II .

Public Reaction and Consequences

The plea converts thirty years of papered fiction into a federal fraud conviction, with the loss figure — more than $54 million — now part of the public court record . The roughly 200 people still owed payments as of March 2026 face the sentencing process as creditors of a collapsed structure, and the maximum 20-year statutory penalty guarantees the consequences will be measured in prison time as well as dollars . The release contains no statement from Teplitsky, Woodhill, or any of the affected families, and no restitution figure has yet been fixed by the court .

Current Status

Teplitsky, 72, awaits sentencing before Judge Sinatra on the mail fraud count, facing up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine . The court has not yet scheduled the sentencing date, and the release does not state whether restitution will be ordered in a specific amount or how the $54.4 million loss will be allocated among the roughly 200 victims . Woodhill Capital Corporation’s status as a going concern was not addressed in the release .

Impact on Their Career/Life

At 72, Teplitsky’s guilty plea ends a business identity he maintained for three decades and replaces it with a federal fraud conviction carrying a possible 20-year term — a sentence that, at his age, could consume the rest of his life. The scheme’s paperwork — fake financing agreements and amortization schedules bearing his company’s name — is now evidence in a completed prosecution rather than a lending operation. For the roughly 200 people whose savings paid the monthly “returns,” the sentencing hearing will be the first formal accounting of what was taken.

Sources

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of New York, “Williamsville man pleads guilty to defrauding dozens of investors out of millions of dollars in multi-million dollar fraud scheme,” October 23, 2026 — source