MAN RECEIVES PRISON SENTENCE FOR ROLE TO DEFRAUD THE U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Thursday, June 9, 2016

Miami Man Sentenced to 144 Months in Prison for Role in Multimillion-Dollar Scheme to Defraud Commercial Lenders and U.S. Export-Import Bank

A Miami man was sentenced today to 12 years in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud two commercial lenders and the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM Bank) out of more than $11 million.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida and Inspector General Michael McCarthy of EXIM Bank made the announcement.

Guillermo A. Sanchez-Badia, 61, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Joan A. Lenard of the Southern District of Florida, who also sentenced Sanchez-Badia to three years of supervised release and ordered him to forfeit $41,924,418 and pay $11,503,068 in restitution, joint with co-conspirators Isabel C. Sanchez and Gustavo Girol.  Sanchez-Badia pleaded guilty on March 21, 2016, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Sanchez-Badia admitted that from 2007 through 2012, he and his co-conspirators utilized companies that they controlled to create fictitious invoices for sales of merchandise that never occurred.  These invoices were sold to two Miami-area commercial lenders in a process called “factoring,” which allowed the conspirators to receive cash for approximately 90 percent of the value of the merchandise listed on the fake invoices.  Sanchez-Badia admitted that, in order to continue the scheme, he and his co-conspirators created additional fictitious invoices, transferred the funds they received through numerous bank accounts under their control and, in a Ponzi-style scheme, used a portion of the new proceeds to pay off prior factored invoices.

Sanchez-Badia admitted that when the Miami lenders refused to extend further credit, he and his co-conspirators created false invoices and shipping documents to obtain a loan guaranteed by the EXIM.  Rather than acquiring, selling and shipping American manufactured goods as required for an EXIM guaranteed loan, Sanchez-Badia and his co-conspirators used the loan proceeds to pay off earlier factored invoices, thereby extending the scheme, and kept the balance of the loan proceeds for themselves, he admitted.  The factoring loans and the EXIM-guaranteed loan ultimately defaulted, causing losses of more than $9 million to the lenders and $2 million to the United States.

Five other individuals have been convicted for their roles in this scheme: Sanchez, 36, and Giral, 38, both of Miami, who await sentencing; and Freddy Moreno-Beltran, 43, of Bogota, Colombia.  Ricardo Beato, 62, of Miami, and Jorge Amad, 48, of Miramar, Florida, were separately charged, pleaded guilty and have been sentenced for their roles in the scheme.

The EXIM Office of Inspector General investigated the case.  Trial Attorney William Bowne and Senior Litigation Counsel Patrick Donley of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.

3 INDICTED FOR ROLES IN SCHEME TO DEFRAUD EXPORT-IMPORT BANK, COMMERCIAL BANKS

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Three Family Members Indicted for Participating in Multi-Million Dollar Scheme to Defraud Commercial Lenders and the U.S. Export-Import Bank

Three family members were indicted for their alleged participation in a scheme to defraud Miami-area lenders and the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida.

Guillermo M. Sanchez, 60, Isabel C. Sanchez, 36, and Gustavo Giral 38, all of Cutler Bay, Florida, are charged in the indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering.

According to allegations in the indictment, from 2007 through 2012, the defendants utilized companies they controlled to create fictitious invoices for sales of merchandise that never occurred.  In a process called “factoring,” the defendants sold the accounts receivables to two Miami-area lenders for approximately 90 percent of the value of the merchandise listed on the alleged fake invoices.  The lenders were not aware that the invoices were fake, and expected to recover the full amount owed from the purported purchasers.  To perpetuate the fraud, the defendants allegedly transferred the proceeds through numerous bank accounts under their control and, in a Ponzi-style scheme, used a portion of the funds to pay off other factored invoices.

After the Miami lenders refused to extend further credit, the defendants and their co-conspirators allegedly created false invoices and shipping documents to obtain a loan guaranteed by the Ex-Im Bank.  Rather than acquiring, selling and shipping American-manufactured goods as required for Ex-Im Bank-guaranteed loans, the defendants allegedly used the loan proceeds to extend the fraudulent scheme by paying off other lenders, and split the remaining funds among themselves and other co-conspirators.  Ultimately, the defendants defaulted on both the factoring loans and the Ex-Im Bank loan.

Co-conspirators Fredy Moreno-Beltran, Ricardo Beato and Jorge Amad were separately charged, and each have pleaded guilty to participating in the scheme.  According to his plea agreement, Moreno-Beltran owned Clientric, a purported purchaser of goods from companies controlled by the defendants.  According to their plea agreements, Beato and Amad owned Approach Technologies International, a company that the defendants falsely claimed had sold nearly $2 million of American-manufactured telephone call center software to Clientric in order to obtain an Ex-Im Bank-guaranteed loan.  In connection with their guilty pleas, Beato, Amad and Moreno admitted that the invoices provided to Ex-Im Bank were false.

The alleged scheme caused approximately $8 million in losses to the private lenders and nearly $2 million in losses to the United States.

The charges contained in an indictment are merely accusations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The case is being investigated by the Ex-Im Bank Office of Inspector General, with assistance provided by the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations.  The case is being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Patrick Donley and Trial Attorney William Bowne of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

TEXAS RESIDENT GOES TO PRISON FOR 15 MONTHS FOR EXPORT-IMPORT BANK FRAUD

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Texas Resident Sentenced to 15 Months in Prison for Scheme to Defraud the U.S. Export-import Bank
WASHINGTON – A Fabens, Texas, resident was sentenced today to 15 months in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) of more than $690,624.

The sentence was announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman of the Western District of Texas; Osvaldo L. Gratacos, Inspector General of the Ex-Im Bank; and Acting Special Agent in Charge Dennis A. Ulrich of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) in El Paso, Texas.
Hector Cuevas, 42, was also sentenced by Judge Kathleen Cardone in U.S. District Court in El Paso to three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $553,148 in restitution and $690,624 in forfeiture.  Cuevas pleaded guilty on Oct. 13, 2011, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.  Cuevas admitted that he participated in a scheme to defraud the Ex-Im Bank of more than $690,624.

According to court documents, Cuevas was the owner of CT Implement Inc., a farm equipment sales company in Fabens that purported to be in the business of exporting U.S. agricultural equipment to Mexico.  During his plea hearing, Cuevas admitted that he helped others prepare and submit false applications, financial records and export documents to two lending banks to assist co-conspirators in Mexico in obtaining two Ex-Im insured loans purportedly for the purchase of equipment from Cuevas’ company.  Once the loans were approved, Cuevas admitted that he acted as a money launderer by illegally transferring Ex-Im Bank insured proceeds to both borrowers and others in Mexico.  Both loans defaulted and caused Ex-Im Bank to pay claims totaling $583,430 to the lending banks.

Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing.  Ex-Im Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Patrick Donley and William Bowne of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Spitzer of the Western District of Texas, El Paso Office.  The case was investigated by the Ex-Im Bank Office of Inspector General and ICE-HSI El Paso.  The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) also provided valuable assistance and financial analysis in this investigation.

TX RESIDENT SENTENCED TO 24 MONTHS IN PRISON FOR SCHEME TO DEFRAUD THE U.S. EXPORT-IMORT BANK

The following excerpt is from the Department of Justice website:

Thursday, October 20, 2011
"WASHINGTON – An El Paso, Texas, resident was sentenced today to 24 months in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) of more than $3.6 million.

The sentence was announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman of the Western District of Texas; Osvaldo L. Gratacos, Inspector General of the Ex-Im Bank; Special Agent in Charge Manuel Oyola-Torres of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in El Paso; Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Sparkman of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) in Washington, D.C.; and Inspector in Charge Daniel S. Cortez of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) in Washington, D.C.

Gilberto Baez-Garcia, 35, was also sentenced by Judge Kathleen Cardone in U.S. District Court in El Paso to five years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $ 3,614,594 in restitution and $ 3,614,977 in forfeiture. Baez pleaded guilty on May 11, 2011, to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, conspiracy to launder money and bank fraud. Baez admitted that he participated in a scheme to defraud the Ex-Im Bank of more than $3.6 million. Baez most recently resided in El Paso. He was arrested on June 4, 2010.

According to court documents, Baez was the co-owner of Valcomar Inc., an export company located in El Paso that purported to be in the business of exporting U.S. manufactured goods to Mexico. During his plea hearing, Baez admitted that he and another El Paso exporter created false documents so Baez could obtain a fraudulent Ex-Im Bank loan, which resulted in a $1,016,126 loss to the government. Baez also admitted that he and his co-conspirators assisted others to obtain fraudulent Ex-Im loans, which resulted in more than $2 million in losses to the government. According to court records, all of the Ex-Im loans involving Baez were fraudulent and Baez and others stole the loan proceeds by transferring funds to Mexico and elsewhere. As a result, the loans went into default and caused the Ex-Im Bank to pay claims losses to the lending banks in the amount of $3,614,594.

Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing. Ex-Im Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Patrick Donley and William Bowne of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Spitzer of the Western District of Texas, El Paso Office. The case was investigated by the Ex-Im Bank Office of Inspector General, HSI, IRS-CI and USPIS."