PROVIDENCE – Michael Chaves, owner of CAT Inc., an automobile transport company in East Providence, was charged with fraud, identity theft, tax evasion and falsifying U.S. Department of Transportation records in U.S. District Court in Providence Friday.
Chaves allegedly falsified U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records to impede an investigation, fraudulently obtained more than $400,000 from financial institutions, and utilized another person’s identity to continue to run his business after being ordered to shut down by the FMCSA due to safety violations.
Chaves faces 10 charges, including falsification of records, aggravated identity theft, five counts of bank fraud, two counts of wire fraud and tax evasion.
Prosecutors allege that Chavez obtained loans from six financial institutions for $332,000 fraudulently and operated a fraudulent check scheme by submitting 15 fraudulent checks he allegedly created to an automobile sellers bank account from which he withdrew $64,453 and allegedly caused the fraudulent wire transfer between financial institutions of $72,864.28.
Chaves’ was alleged to have run a variety of schemes to not report taxable income, including commingling business and personal expenses, using a check cashier to divert third-party income, creating fraudulent third-party checks and cashing them using a check cashier, rather than a bank, and maintaining approximately 15 different bank accounts using at least 5 different company names.
