David Herlicka, 51, of Amherst, was sentenced on Dec. 10 for his involvement in a fraudulent investment scheme to embezzle nearly $1 million to fund his business, White Birch Brewing, LLC. Courtesy photo/New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office

CONCORD – David Herlicka, 51, of Amherst, was sentenced on Dec. 10 to five to 10 years in prison for his involvement in a fraudulent investment scheme to embezzle nearly $1 million to fund his business, White Birch Brewing, LLC.

He was also sentenced to three-and-a-half to seven years for securities fraud, which will be suspended until 10 years after his release from prison.

According to court documents, in August 2014, Herlicka approached Gabriel and Roger Sylvestre, trustees of Parktown Trust, about taking out a $500,000 loan to fund his Nashua brewery, which has since closed. During the next two months, Herlicka and his co-conspirator, Dennis Nordquist, 71, of Gilford, made a number of false financial representations about the brewery and ultimately convinced the Sylvestres to increase the loan to $962,000.

Herlicka also failed to tell the Sylvestres that he owed $814,592 to his former employer and that he had been fined $97,484 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

It ultimately turned out that $130,000 of the Parktown money was used for personal expenses. Neither Herlicka nor Nordquist ever had any intention of paying back the loan.

In addition to securities fraud, Herlicka was found guilty of theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft by deception.