Raul R. Gonzales, Disaster Fraud, Missouri 2016

Raul R. Gonzales, 47, a Joplin, Mo., business owner, has been accused of running a $3 million disaster fraud scheme in the wake of the devastating 2011 tornado that ravaged the city.

According to court documents, Gonzales, who owned and operated Intelligent Investments, Inc., in Joplin, was awarded a contract in June 2011 to clean up debris from public rights-of-way and residential property.

The contract, managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, specified that at least 50 percent of the work must be done by employees residing in Jasper and Newton counties.

However, the indictment alleges that Gonzales and a company outside of Missouri, identified as Company A, conspired to defraud the government by having Company A perform virtually all the work on the contract using its own resources and subcontractors, which were not local.

Gonzales and Company A allegedly agreed to split the net profits received from claims under the contract, with Company A set to receive substantially more than half of the net profits.

The indictment charges Gonzales with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, three counts of making a false claim, three counts of disaster fraud and three counts of making and using a false document.

The case is being prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall D. Eggert, and was investigated by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command – Major Procurement Fraud Unit, the Defense Contract Audit Agency, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Department of Homeland Security – Office of Inspector General, the FBI and the Joplin, Mo., Police Department.

Raul R. Gonzales, the defendant, is charged in a 10-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Mo., on June 7, 2016.

According to the indictment, Gonzales’ company, Intelligent Investments, Inc., received payments of approximately $3 million for the contract.

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

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