Related Federal Cases
- Clovis Nurse Practitioner Accused of Oxycodone-for-Pills Scheme · New Mexico
- Taylor Foster Accused of PCP Trafficking in Albuquerque · New Mexico
- Hoffmeister Accused of Shooting at Border Patrol · New Mexico
- Terror Cartel Leader Busted in Texas: Tren de Aragua’s Fall · New Mexico
- James Leads Coalition Against Extremist SAVE America Act · New Mexico
BIE Employees Accused of Embezzling $1000+ from Gov’t
ALBUQUERQUE – Three men were arraigned in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., on an indictment charging them with conspiring to defraud the United States by using credit cards issued by their employer, the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), to purchase thousands of dollars of goods and services for their personal use between Aug. 2013 and Dec. 2016.
Simon Nunez, Jr., 67, David M. Parrish, 63, and Leland Martinez, 56, of Los Lunas, N.M., entered not guilty pleas during this morning’s proceedings, and were released under pretrial supervision pending trial, which has yet to be scheduled.
The nine-count indictment, which was filed on July 27, 2018, charges the defendants with conspiracy and theft from the United States. It also charges Nunez with making false statements to federal investigators.
According to the indictment, BIE is a sub-department of the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI). Parrish and Martinez were BIE employees authorized to make purchases for BIE using government-issued credit cards, who were supervised by Nunez, a BIE supervisory employee with the authority to approve or deny purchases made by Parrish and Martinez and who maintained records listing the justifications for the use of the government funds to make purchases.
Count 1 of the indictment, the conspiracy count, alleges that Nunez, Parrish and Martinez engaged in a scheme to misuse their government-issued credit cards for their personal use and the use of family members, and to misrepresent those purchases as authorized government purchases.
If convicted of the charges in the indictment, the defendants each face a maximum statutory penalty of five years of imprisonment and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy charge, and a maximum statutory penalty of ten years of imprisonment and a $250,000 fine on the theft of government funds charges.
Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.
This case was investigated by the Department of the Interior’s Office of Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Mysliwiec.
Key Facts
- State: New Mexico
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
ðŸâ€Â’ Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →
