Source: Office of United States Attorneys
DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Edward Joseph Chmiel, 49, Henry Lozano, 43, and Sabino Loera, 51, have been charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering arising out of a scheme to submit fraudulent invoices to a contractor providing services for a Colorado electrical utility.
Loera and Lozano made their initial appearances in federal court on February 10. Chmiel is expected to have his initial appearance later this month. According to the criminal information, Chmiel and Loera worked for a company providing electrical contracting services to a utility company in Colorado. Lozano owned a company providing trucking and hauling services. In August 2018, the three agreed that Lozano’s company would provide those services in exchange for kickback payments to Chmiel and Loera. To generate the money that would pay the kickbacks, the three schemed to submit false invoices from Lozano’s company to Chmiel and Loera’s. Once Lozano was paid for those invoices, Loera would direct Lozano to issue checks to a network of 15 other people. Those people cashed the checks and then gave the cash to Chmiel and Loera. Between August 2018 and June 2020, the false invoices generated approximately $1,495,781.51 in kickback proceeds.
The charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The investigation is being conducted by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and the FBI Denver Field Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Sonia Dave and Bryan Fields.
Case Number: 25-cr-00024-RMR