Hubert Ivan Ugarte, Bribery & PPP Loan Fraud, Utah 2021

A Salt Lake City man has pleaded guilty to his role in a $24 million bribery scheme and PPP loan fraud.

Hubert Ivan Ugarte, 52, of Draper, Utah, pleaded guilty in federal court to charges related to the bribery case and fraudulently obtaining a federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan.

In the bribery case, Ugarte was convicted of fraud and money laundering charges for his involvement in a pay-to-play trucking scheme where prosecutors alleged that Ugarte was one of ten defendants who paid approximately $1 million in bribes to the Utah FXG Ground Hub manager.

Ugarte admitted to bribing the FXG senior linehaul manager, Ryan Lee Mower, with approximately $490,000 which netted Ugarte's trucking companies over $24 million dollars during a seven-year period between 2012 and 2019.

The scheme involved Ugarte and the FXG manager working to obscure the ownership of Ugarte's many trucking companies by filing false compliance reports with FXG in order to award Ugarte with more trucking routes than one business owner was entitled to under established FXG policies.

In the second case involving Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan fraud, Ugarte pleaded guilty to submitting a fraudulent loan application to the Small Business Administration (SBA) through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Ugarte admitted that he fraudulently obtained $210,000 in PPP loans after failing to disclose that he was under federal indictment for his role in the fraudulent trucking scheme.

Sentencing is set for June 3, 2021, in both matters. Assistant United States Attorneys in the Utah U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted the cases against Ugarte.

Ugarte's trucking companies received approximately $135,000,000 in gross payments from FXG, resulting in net profits to his trucking companies of approximately $24,000,000.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ut/pr/owner-utah-trucking-companies-pleads-guilty-role-fedex-trucking-bribery-scheme-worth-24