Family indicted for defrauding Ex-Im Bank

Three Florida family members were indicted for their alleged participation in a scheme to defraud Miami-area lenders and the U.S. Export-Import Bank.    Three family members were indicted for their alleged involvement in a scheme to defraud Miami-area lenders and the U.S. Export-Import Bank, the Justice Department said in a statement Tuesday.
   Guillermo M. Sanchez, 60, Isabel C. Sanchez, 36, and Gustavo Giral 38, all of Cutler Bay, Fla., are charged in the indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering.
   According to the indictment, from 2007 through 2012, the defendants used companies they controlled to craft fake invoices for sales of goods that never occurred.
   “In a process called ‘factoring,’ the defendants sold the accounts receivables to two Miami-area lenders for approximately 90 percent of the value of the merchandise listed on the alleged fake invoices. The lenders were not aware that the invoices were fake, and expected to recover the full amount owed from the purported purchasers,” the Justice Department explained. “To perpetuate the fraud, the defendants allegedly transferred the proceeds through numerous bank accounts under their control and, in a Ponzi-style scheme, used a portion of the funds to pay off other factored invoices.
   “After the Miami lenders refused to extend further credit, the defendants and their co-conspirators allegedly created false invoices and shipping documents to obtain a loan guaranteed by the Ex-Im Bank. Rather than acquiring, selling and shipping American-manufactured goods as required for Ex-Im Bank-guaranteed loans, the defendants allegedly used the loan proceeds to extend the fraudulent scheme by paying off other lenders, and split the remaining funds among themselves and other co-conspirators. Ultimately, the defendants defaulted on both the factoring loans and the Ex-Im Bank loan,” the department added.
   Co-conspirators Fredy Moreno-Beltran, Ricardo Beato and Jorge Amad were separately charged, and each have pleaded guilty for their involvement in the scheme.  
   The Justice Department noted the alleged scheme caused about $8 million in losses to the private lenders, as well as nearly $2 million in losses to the United States.