Calif. Duo Sentenced to Federal Prison in Fraud Scheme

Two Southland men were sentenced to federal prison for their convictions on charges related to a scheme in which one embezzled money from his employer and funneled it to members of his softball team.

Angel Uribe, 33, of Ontario, was sentenced to 37 months in prison and was ordered to pay $298,000 in restitution. Jorge Riesgo, 39, of Pico Rivera, was sentenced to 15 months in prison and was ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution. Both men were sentenced by United States District Judge Ronald S.W. Lew in Los Angeles.

In February, Uribe pleaded guilty to mail fraud and money laundering, admitting that he allegedly embezzled funds from his employer, Alexsis Risk Management Inc., of West Covina (Alexsis is a subsidiary of CNA Financial Company, and Alexsis is now called RSKCo). Uribe reportedly directed the fraudulent payments to sham entities created by his friends to receive the diverted funds. Uribe, who was a claims supervisor, arranged for Alexsis to issue numerous checks to companies that were run by friends of his, including Riesgo. The checks were purportedly for vocational rehabilitation services provided by the various sham companies.

After the checks were cashed, Uribe’s friends returned up to 50 percent of the misappropriated funds to Uribe. Several of Uribe’s friends were his teammates on a softball team that played weekly games, and they would return the funds to Uribe in cash at the games.

From 1996 until Sept. 1998, Uribe caused more than 300 fraudulent checks to be issued from Alexsis. The total value of the checks was more than $400,000. About half of the checks were allegedly paid to companies that had been set up by Riesgo, and Riesgo paid approximately 40 percent of those funds to Uribe.

In February, Riesgo pleaded guilty to mail fraud.

This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and IRS-Criminal Investigation.