Aurelio 'Jim' Aleman, Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, Texas 2013

Two former executives of USA Dry Van Trucking Company have been convicted of their roles in a $26 million fraud scheme that targeted GE Capital Corporation. Aurelio 'Jim' Aleman, 59, and Oscar Barbosa, 50, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on December 9, 2013, in a U.S. District Court in Houston, Texas.

Aleman, the former chief operations officer of USA Dry Van Logistics, and Barbosa, the former controller of the company, admitted to joining a scheme to defraud GE Capital Corporation from March 2008 to January 2010. The pair misrepresented USADV's true operating performance and financial results to GE Capital Corporation, causing the company to appear more profitable than it actually was. This led to USADV obtaining hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds on a weekly basis.

Aleman and Barbosa signed, prepared, and/or directed others to prepare certificates that falsely inflated the amount of USADV's accounts receivables and caused them to be submitted to GE Capital Corporation to enable USADV to obtain more funds than would otherwise have been permitted. The pair also admitted to submitting false financial statements to auditors and GE Capital Corporation.

When the truth about USADV's operations and finances were revealed, USADV went into bankruptcy. USADV successfully re-organized under Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings and is currently operating with new owners. Aleman and Barbosa are no longer affiliated with or employed by the company.

The amount of actual loss to GE Capital Corporation was more than $26 million. As a condition of their plea agreements, both Aleman and Barbosa agreed to make monthly payments towards restitution to GE Capital Corporation prior to sentencing. In Aleman's plea agreement, he further agreed to the imposition of a money judgment against him in the amount of $26,254,781, which was ordered to be forfeited to the United States.

Aleman and Barbosa face up to 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. The charges against the company's former CEO, Sergio Lagos, remain pending. He is presumed innocent unless and until convicted through due process of law.

The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI. Assistant United States Attorneys Casey N. MacDonald and Grady J. Leupold are prosecuting the case.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/two-usa-dry-van-trucking-company-ex-executives-convicted-26-million-fraud-scheme