LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A federal grand jury has indicted two people for conspiring to defraud freight factoring companies and freight brokers by submitting false bills of lading and other documentation.
The federal grand jury in Louisville returned the indictment on Jan. 18, charging Yeniseis Saavedra, 32, and Alien Saavedra, 33, both of Louisville, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and disaster fraud, and Yeniseis Saavedra with filing a false statement, disaster fraud and aggravated identity theft.
The Saavedras are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aiding and abetting disaster fraud, according to court documents. The indictment charges both with conspiring to defraud factoring (trucking loan) companies by submitting false bills of lading.
They are also charged with filing for lost wage assistance payments authorized by a Presidential Memorandum resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic with the Kentucky Office of Unemployment. The filing for lost wage assistance payments were on behalf of Alien and failed to report that Alien was receiving wages from the motor carrier industry.
Yeniseis is also charged with making a false statement to the United States Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration when she falsely filed an application on behalf of another, noted only as “C.S.,” claiming that C.S. was going to operate a trucking company. However, C.S. was not aware of the application filing, and Yeniseis was operating the company.
Yeniseis is also charged with disaster fraud for filing for lost wage assistance payments authorized by a Presidential Memorandum resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic with the Kentucky Office of Unemployment on behalf of C.S. Again, C.S. was unaware of the filing, this time for lost wage assistance payments, and C.S. did not receive any of the lost wage payments. Instead, the lost wage payments were sent to a bank account controlled by Yeniseis.
Yeniseis is also charged with aggravated identity theft for using the identity and social security number of C.S. without C.S.’s authorization to obtain the lost wage assistance payments.
The Saavedras made their initial court appearances this week before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. If convicted, Yeniseis faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 2 years in prison and a maximum sentence of 87 years in prison, and Alien faces a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. There is no parole in the federal system.
The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
