Pinoy in California gets 37 months for $10-M fraud

MANILA, Philippines – A US court sentenced on Thursday a Filipino-American to 37 months imprisonment in connection with a $10-million scheme to defraud the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), the US Embassy in Manila said yesterday.

The embassy said in a statement that Edward Chua, 55, of Montebello, California, was sentenced in the US District Court for the District Court of Columbia by the Honorable Richard W. Roberts for committing fraud against the official export credit agency of the US.

In addition to his prison sentence, Chua was placed on 36 months of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $10,743,478 to the Ex-Im Bank.

The substantial assistance Chua provided to the government in its investigation and prosecution of others was taken into consideration at sentencing.

Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and US Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor of the District of Columbia said the scheme involved fraudulent sale and shipment of US exports to the Philippines.

Chua pleaded guilty on July 13, 2007, to one count of conspiracy to defraud the US and one count of mail fraud.

Chua, former owner of EMMCCO and ECCO exporting companies located in Montebello, confessed in his plea that from November 1999 until January 2005, he acted as a purported “exporter” in approximately $10 million worth of fraudulent loan transactions, falsified documents sent to US banks and to the Ex-Im Bank, and misappropriated approximately $10 million in loan proceeds.

He admitted to keeping approximately $300,000 of those proceeds and transferring approximately $9 million to bank accounts owned or controlled by a co-conspirator in the Philippines.

Chua’s sentencing is part of a broader investigation into an $80-million scheme to defraud the Ex-Im Bank between November 1999 and December 2005. 

Seven other individuals of Filipino descent – Chua, Daniel Curran, David Villongco, Robert Delgado, Christina Song, Edward Javier and Jaime Galvez – have pleaded guilty to charges related to their involvement in the fraud scheme. 

Delgado was sentenced on Oct. 5, 2007, to 24 months in prison while this year, Galvez, Villongco and Curran were sentenced to 12, 33 and 41 months in prison, respectively.

Four other individuals – Marilyn Ong, Ildefonso Ong, Nelson Ti and Joseph Tirona – have been indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in the District of Columbia for their alleged involvement in the scheme.

These cases are being investigated by the US Postal Inspection Service’s Los Angeles Division and the FBI’s Washington Field Office with trial Attorney Hank Bond Walther of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Michael K. Atkinson, Assistant US Attorney in the District of Columbia handling the prosecution.

Ex-Im Bank is an independent US government agency that assists in financing the export of US goods and services to markets around the world through export credit insurance, loan guarantees and direct loans.

Fil-Am pleads guilty to writing hate mail

Another Filipino, this time in Cleveland, pleaded guilty Thursday to federal  charges for writing hate letters targeting blacks or mixed-race people, including Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.

David Tuason, 46, pleaded guilty to six counts of mailing threatening communications and two counts of threatening interstate communications.

Assistant US Attorney Dean Valore estimated that Tuason sent more than 200 hateful letters or e-mails, many to black or mixed-race men seen with white women.

Tuason told US District Judge Donald Nugent that he sent threat letters to Thomas and Jeter, among others, but did not cite the reason for his actions.

In many cases, he posed as an angry white woman threatening violent acts.

According to his plea, Tuason also sent threatening communications to high school, college and professional athletes, coaches, celebrities, musicians, news anchors, hospitals, police departments and lawyers.

FBI agents arrested Tuason on March 14 after tracking e-mails sent from a public library.

The Justice Department agreed not to bring any additional criminal charges against Tuason based on evidence known when the agreement was reached May 8 or to pursue criminal charges against his parents.

Tuason’s parents attended the hearing but declined to comment afterward.

Tuason could be sentenced to up to five years in prison for each count, and an additional five years for having threatened a federal judge. His sentencing is scheduled for July. – With AP