PROVIDENCE – A city man accused of defrauding businesses of over $831,000 was ordered detained in federal custody on Monday, after allegedly eluding arrest by ramming federal law enforcement vehicles, nearly running down an FBI agent and task force officer in East Providence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Rhode Island said on Monday.
Paul Diogenes is alleged to have created a fictitious catering company in order to obtain credit from food distributors to purchase more than $831,769 in product, including thousands of dollars of lobster, sea bass, shrimp, scallops, filet, ribeye steak and wild boar, federal prosecutors said.
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The USAO alleged that Diogenes used the stolen identities and banking information from several well-known businesses and restaurants to obtain funds to pay for some of the products, then resold much of the product, in some instances to the same businesses whose banking information he allegedly used to pay food suppliers.
Diogenes eluded arrest for nine days after evading law enforcement in East Providence, prosecutors said, and was apprehended at a hotel in Middleborough, Mass. He faces charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and felony assault of a federal officer.
