A California man was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison for embezzling nearly $1.6 million from the Fresno-based trucking company where he worked for 15 years.
Once released from prison, Gabriel Ruiz De Chavez, 47, of Fresno, who worked as an operations manager for a small trucking company who was not named in the lawsuits, will serve three years of supervised release.
In July, Ruiz De Chavez, 46, of Fresno, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
His attorney, Nicholas F. Reyes, did not respond to FreightWaves’ request for comment.
U.S. District Court Judge Troy L. Nunley also ordered Ruiz De Chavez to pay nearly $1.6 million in restitution to his former employer, which has a fleet of about 22 trucks that transport agricultural products.
Federal prosecutors say that over a seven-year period – between 2012 and 2019 – Ruiz De Chavez used his position to generate more than 600 counterfeit invoices, purportedly created by genuine sellers of goods and services. Court records show that Ruiz De Chavez presented these counterfeit invoices and associated checks, made out to the real vendors with his employer’s signature, and then deposited the checks into his personal bank account.
“It was through this close relationship with the owners, coupled with his duties as operations manager – especially regarding his billing duties – that Ruiz De Chavez was placed in a position of trust that enabled him to continue his scheme to commit fraud to be carried out unnoticed. long,” according to court documents.
Prosecutors say the theft was discovered by the trucking company’s owners after an independent audit found that Ruiz De Chavez deleted 10 years of accounts payable records covering the period 2010 to 2020. According to court documents, the former operations manager “was aware of the audit and quit” before it was completed in June 2020.
“He used the money to pay for personal expenses, including credit card payments, ATM withdrawals, mortgage payments, vacations and car loans,” according to court documents.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s sentencing memorandum alleges that Ruiz De Chavez’s theft had a “significant and negative impact on his employer.”
“The victim company was required to take out loans between 2012 and 2020 to maintain cash flow due to the theft,” federal prosecutors said.
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