Fraud Friday — President of Equipment Finance Company Arrested for $10 Million Ponzi Loan Scheme

May 8, 2026

Bob Coleman
Founder & Publisher

Fraud Friday: President of Equipment Finance Company Arrested for $10 Million Ponzi Loan Scheme

Richard Teplitsky was arrested on May 6 on federal loan fraud charges tied to Woodhill Capital Corporation in Williamsville, New York. According to the FBI, Teplitsky operated what investigators describe as a decades-long equipment finance Ponzi scheme that ultimately left more than 100 victims with losses exceeding $10 million.

Teplitsky, 71, served as president of Woodhill Capital Corporation, a lender that financed the purchase of trucks and trailers for small businesses. Investors who provided capital to Woodhill received copies of the equipment finance agreements and the borrowers’ repayment schedules. In return, investors were promised regular payments via checks or electronic transfers, as scheduled.

During an interview with the FBI, Teplitsky admitted Woodhill’s business model centered on high-interest equipment loans, typically charging borrowers rates between 20 and 25 percent. Investors’ funding of those loans was promised returns of 13-14 percent. Most loans ranged from $10,000 to $50,000, with proceeds paid directly to the equipment seller.

But the portfolio’s economics eventually collapsed. Teplitsky told investigators that the loans were extremely risky and that estimated borrower defaults reached nearly 50 percent.
By the mid-1990s, Woodhill no longer generated enough borrower repayments to satisfy investor obligations. That was the turning point.

Teplitsky admitted he began creating fictitious loan documents and sending them to investors to make it appear their money was funding legitimate equipment loans. 

In reality, much of the incoming investor money was being used to pay earlier investors.

One of the borrowers contacted by Victim 1 was Borrower A, the owner of a small business in Pennsylvania. Victim 1 had received an Equipment Financing Agreement from Woodhill showing a $45,000 loan with a 48-month term secured by a 2008 Peterbilt truck with a VIN ending in 41153. The agreement appeared to bear Borrower A’s signature. When interviewed by the FBI, Borrower A stated that he had previously financed trailer purchases through Woodhill, but he had never financed a 2008 Peterbilt truck through the company. He acknowledged owning a 2006 Peterbilt truck, but said that vehicle had been financed through his local bank, not Woodhill.

The fraud allegedly expanded over time. Teplitsky told investigators that during approximately the last ten years, most of Woodhill’s loans were fictitious. 

As of March 2026, he estimated Woodhill had between 170 and 190 investors owed tens of millions of dollars in principal and interest, while only 5 to 10 percent of the underlying loans were legitimate.