Former NBC Universal treasurer Victor Jung pleaded innocent Thursday to two counts of wire fraud in a federal court in Manhattan. He was released on $250,000 bond and forced to surrender travel documents and submit to regular pretrial supervision.
Jung was charged with stealing over $813,000 from the company and using it for his personal benefit, according to details provided Thursday by the United States Attorney’s office of the Southern District of New York.
According to a two-count indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court Thursday, Jung set up a shadow company called NBCU Media Productions, LLC, that was never a part of NBCU or parent company General Electric.
He allegedly transferred the money into the account in two waves, one in January 2006 and the other in April, and used the monies for personal flights on private jets, to rent a summer home and to pay off more than $87,000 on his American Express card.
If convicted, Jung faces up to 20 years in jail plus a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss resulting from the crime.
Bloomberg News is reporting that Jung’s attorney, Christopher Brennan, said Jung will ``vigorously'' fight the charges.
"NBC Universal is committed to and vigilant about the enforcement of its compliance policies," the company said in a statement. "When we discovered the potential integrity breach, we promptly brought it to the appropriate authorities and are cooperating fully with the investigation. We will continue to monitor the situation to its resolution."
