• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, May 16, 2012

New York District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff has ordered the criminal trial (by jury) of former Posterscope USA executives Todd Hansen and James Buckley to begin on July 9, according to court papers.

The pair were arrested last fall and formally indicted in February on fraud and conspiracy charges.

Hansen, the former president of the operation, and Buckley, the unit’s former finance director, allegedly ordered false accounting entries while at the Aegis Group-owned out-of-home specialist agency. They made it seem as if the shop was booking more ads than it actually was in order to increase their compensation.

The alleged scheme made it appear as if Posterscope earned net income of $19.75 million more than it actually did between 2005 and 2009, per the charges that stemmed from a joint investigation by the U.S. District Attorney’s Office and the FBI.

 “As a result of meeting these fictitious performance goals, Hansen and Buckley were paid total salaries and bonuses in the amounts of $1.1 million and $650,000 respectively,” the initial charge sheet stated.

The indictment refers to an unnamed “former controller” who was ordered to falsify some of the firm’s accounts. That individual so far has not been publicly charged in connection with the case.

Both of the former Posterscope executives were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud. Hansen was charged with an additional count of mail fraud. Each count carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison.

Both Hansen and Buckley pled not guilty shortly after the indictment.