2 executives with South Jersey security firm charged with stealing millions through embezzlement and bank fraud

The founder of a security company in South Jersey has been charged in connection with embezzling $3 million from his business and causing a $9 million loss for a bank, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazier announced Monday.

Robert Cormier, 51, of Barrington, was arraigned on July 20 in Camden federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Pascal. He was charged in an indictment filed July 8 with embezzlement by bank agent, bank fraud, money laundering, income tax evasion, and failing to collect and pay over payroll taxes.

Cormier was still in federal custody on Monday, according to court records. A federal defender representing Cormier could not be reached for comment.

A second man, Richard Eisler, 38, of Clementon, who was the deputy director for the security company, was charged in a separate indictment for his alleged role in embezzling over $2 million from the business.

Eisler was charged with embezzlement by bank agent, money laundering, income tax evasion, and witness tampering. Eisler was arraigned on Friday in Camden federal court before Magistrate Judge Pascal and pleaded not guilty, court records show. Eisler was released on $100,000 unsecured bail.

The lawyer representing Eisler could not be reached for comment Monday.

In 2017, Cormier started Erigere Rapidus Solutions, Inc. (ERS), a security services business based in Westville, prosecutors said.

According to several organizations that promoted him as a public speaker with a law enforcement background, Cormier is a retired U.S. Border Patrol agent. The Latin phrase “erigere rapidus” is the motto for a special operations group in the Border Patrol, an agency official posted on social media last year. Various translations say the Latin means “stand ready” or “rapid deployment” or something similar.

On Monday, it was unclear if Erigere Rapidus Solutions was still operating as a business. The domain name used for the company’s website was available for sale.

In late 2019, ERS entered into an agreement with a local bank to collect, count, transport, store, and deposit cash, prosecutors said.

ERS employees, including Eisler, were responsible for picking up cash from various customers of the bank, counting and storing the cash, and providing daily reports about the cash to the bank.

On a daily basis, ERS stored varying amounts of cash in its vault ranging from $1 million to $12 million, prosecutors said.

The bank ended its relationship with ERS after determining that more than $8 million was missing from the vault, prosecutors said.

Starting in 2020 until 2022, Cormier allegedly stole at least $3 million in cash out of the vault, prosecutors said.

Cormier, who was the company’s chief operating officer, allegedly used the embezzled funds to cover business-related costs and to pay personal expenses for himself and his family members, including the installation of a deck and a pool, and household renovations, prosecutors said.

He allegedly failed to report the extra income to the Internal Revenue Service and did not collect and pay over payroll taxes for employees of ERS.

From 2020 until late 2021, Eisler allegedly stole at least $2 million from the vault, prosecutors said.

Eisler allegedly used the embezzled funds to pay personal expenses for himself and his family members, including the purchase of a Porsche 911, two Audis, two trucks, and a recreational vehicle, prosecutors said.

He also allegedly used the money to pay for wedding rings, a wedding reception, a roof for his residence, and to pay off an automobile loan, prosecutors said. Eisler allegedly failed to report the income to the IRS.

Prosecutors also allege that Eisler attempted to obstruct the investigation by attempting to persuade a witness to lie to federal agents.