Eagle Pass Contractor Jose Flores, III, pleads guilty to Bank Fraud in federal district court

By: Jose G. Landa
Copyright 2013 Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.

Eagle Pass contractor, Jose Flores, III, plead guilty to Count One of a two-count federal grand jury indictment on Thursday, December 5, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Alia Moses for the Western District of Texas, Del Rio Division, in Del Rio, Texas.

Jose Flores, III, was indicted on July 17, 2013 by a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Del Rio Division, in Del Rio, Texas, charging him with two counts including Count One for bank fraud and Count Two for fraud by wire, radio, or television. Flores entered into a plea agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office agreeing to plead guilty to Count One for bank fraud. The plea agreement is subject to U.S. District Judge Alia Moses’ approval at the time of the sentencing hearing.

Flores plead guilty to Count One for bank fraud “when on or about July 11, 2013,…the Defendant submitted to TAB Bank, Inc., a false invoice in the amount of $51,000 for payment allegedly owed by BB Paving to N5 Group, LLC….The Defendant received payment from TAB Bank, Inc. in the amount of $35,000 for this fictitious invoice.”

The federal indictment alleges that Jose Flores, III, “between April 2011 and September 2011, the Defendant, Jose Flores, III, devised and executed a scheme and an artifice to defraud TAB Bank, Inc. (TAB) by fraudulently submitting an illegitimate invoice from a fictitious client to TAB. The purpose of this submission was to deceive TAB into believing that the Defendant’s company was awaiting payment on thousands of dollars of account receivable so that TAB would advance $35,000 toDefendant’s company.” The federal indictment further alleged that Defendant, Jose Flores, III, and his wife were the owners of N5 Group, Inc. and operated another company named JSML, LLC which routinely did business as King Construction. The indictment further alleged that Defendant and his spouse served as “raw material transportation providers to businesses in Eagle Pass, Texas and to companies operating in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas.”

Jose Flores, III, faces federal imprisonment up to 30 years, five years of supervised release, a fine up to $1,000,000, a special assessment of $100, and forfeiture and/or restitution up to $35,000.

Flores will be sentenced in 2014 by U.S. District Judge Alia Moses.