Bruce Beckner, $16 Million Truck Stop Loan Fraud, New Mexico 2022

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A notorious con man, Bruce Beckner, 60, has been sentenced to 17 years and six months in prison for orchestrating a massive $16 million truck stop loan fraud scheme in New Mexico, authorities announced.

On January 4, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, Alexander M.M. Uballez, announced that Bruce Beckner was handed the lengthy prison sentence for his role in the massive scam, which involved a truck stop business in Deming, New Mexico.

Beckner, who previously served time for major financial crimes in California, assumed the alias “Bill Evans” and recruited a co-defendant, Arthur Herlihy, 74, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, to join him in developing a business plan and securing financing to renovate a truck stop in Deming, New Mexico.

Beckner and Herlihy obtained a loan for $135,165 from First New Mexico Bank in 2009 to renovate the truck stop. However, they falsely represented to the bank that the liquor license held as collateral for the loan was free and clear of any liens or lawsuits. In reality, the truck stop business still owed money to the broker who financed the earlier liquor license transaction.

Beckner also used his alias to sign the transaction documents and submitted an inaccurate personal financial statement to the bank concealing outstanding restitution debt he owed as the result of his prior criminal conviction. The loans eventually went into default in 2011, and a court-appointed receiver filed a bankruptcy petition.

Beckner and his associates solicited money from various investors, claiming it would be used in a “fuel factoring opportunity.” However, they used the investments to repay other investors or cover operational expenses, including Beckner’s salary. Beckner fled the United States after law enforcement confronted him in 2011 and relocated permanently to the island of Roatan in Honduras.

Beckner was arrested by the Honduras Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit (TCIU) of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on March 7, 2019, at the San Pedro Sula airport in Honduras. Honduras approved his extradition on April 11, 2019, and he was transferred into U.S. custody.

Beckner was found guilty on April 7, 2022, on one count of bank fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit fraud. The charges stemmed from his role in the $16 million truck stop loan fraud scheme.

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