Date: 10-28-2014

Case Style: United States of America v. Shawn Fuentes

Case Number: 2:14-cr-00072-JES-CM

Judge: John E. Steele

Court: United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida (Lee County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: Yolande G. Viacava

Defendant's Attorney: George Ellis Summers, Jr. - FPD

Description: Fort Myers, Florida – U.S. District Judge John E. Steele yesterday sentenced Shawn Fuentes to five years in federal prison for mail fraud and tax evasion. The Court also ordered Fuentes to pay restitution to Naples Concrete and Masonry in the amount of $1,951,459, and to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $624,728. As part of her sentence, the court entered a money judgment in the amount of $106,979.14, the proceeds of the mail fraud. Fuentes pleaded guilty on July 17, 2014.

According to court documents, Fuentes was the Chief Financial Officer of N.C.M. of Collier County, Inc., DBA Naples Concrete and Masonry, which was headquartered in Naples, Florida. On numerous occasions between October 2008 and February 2010, Fuentes fraudulently wrote checks payable to American Express and to Bank of America drawn on the bank accounts of N.C.M. of Collier County, Inc., and then sent them by U.S. mail or Federal Express to satisfy her own credit card debt. As part of the scheme, the fraudulent checks appeared to be written for legitimate business expenses in the accounting system utilized by the company, when in truth Fuentes was paying personal expenses. As a result of the scheme, she obtained in excess of $500,000.

In addition, Fuentes filed a 2009 tax return reporting a taxable income of approximately $35,148. She omitted the amount of money defrauded, misappropriated, or stolen from Naples Concrete and Masonry. The actual taxable income that she had received was $822,060; therefore, she failed to report taxable income in the amount of approximately $786,912. For the calendar year 2009, Fuentes paid $2,671 in taxes rather than $262,081.

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Internal Revenue Service. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yolande G. Viacava.

Outcome: See above

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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