Texas Woman’s $1.3M Fake Invoice Scheme Unfolds

A Texas woman’s brazen scheme to swindle the U.S. government out of $1.3 million in Iraq reconstruction funds has been laid bare in a guilty plea.

Jill Ann Charpia, 33, formerly of San Antonio and currently of Colorado, pleaded guilty to a single count of making false statements to a government agency in connection with her company’s work in Iraq.

According to court documents, Charpia, a co-owner of Sourcing Specialist LLC, submitted a series of fake invoices to the Department of Defense (DOD) Joint Contracting Command Iraq/Afghanistan in 2008. The invoices, totaling $1.3 million, were purportedly for mobilization costs, the rental of villas in Baghdad, and the purchase of armored vehicles from an Iraqi company.

However, an investigation revealed that Charpia fabricated the invoices and forged the signatures on the documents. She also admitted to not purchasing any of the armored vehicles and paying only half the submitted cost for the villas.

Charpia’s scheme ultimately netted her $1.27 million, which was wired to her bank account in October 2008.

As part of her plea agreement, Charpia agreed to pay $920,000 plus interest in restitution to the United States. She faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the pecuniary gain or loss, and up to three years of supervised release at sentencing, set for November 15, 2012.

The case is being prosecuted by Special Trial Attorney Mark Grider of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, on detail from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), and by Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith A. Patton of the Western District of Texas. The case is being investigated by SIGIR, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and the Major Procurement Fraud Unit of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command.