FLORIDA
Three family members concocted phony invoices for sales of merchandise that never occurred to swindle Export-Import Bank of the United States bank and commercial lenders, according to officials.
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.
The alleged scheme caused about $8 million in losses to the private lenders and nearly $2 million in losses to the federal government, official said.
According to allegations in the indictment, from 2007 through 2012, this is what happened:
- 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 about 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 plead guilty to participating in the scheme.
The evidence and plea agreements indicted that Moreno-Beltran owned Clientric, a purported purchaser of goods from companies controlled by the defendants.
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.
Beato, Amad and Moreno admitted that the invoices provided to Ex-Im Bank were false.
Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.