U.S. Department
of Justice
Danvers Man Charged with Participating in Bribery and Kickback Scheme
BOSTON – A Danvers man was arrested today and charged in connection with his role in a conspiracy to defraud a large facilities services company with offices in the Greater Boston area.
Jose Avila, a/k/a Joe Avila, 64, was charged in an indictment unsealed today with one count of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud, five counts of honest services mail fraud, and one count of wire fraud. Avila was arrested this morning and will appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald Cabell today.
According to the indictment, Avila was the general manager of a temporary labor company. Lou Amaral, who was previously convicted for his role in the scheme, was a Senior Director of Operations at a facilities services company in the Greater Boston area. It is alleged that, between September 2013 and May 2014, Avila provided bribes and kickbacks to Amaral, and in exchange, Amaral steered lucrative temporary labor contracts to Avila’s employer. It is further alleged that the temporary labor company falsely billed the facilities services company for gift cards which Avila provided to Amaral and others.
In July 2018, Amaral pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 9, 2018.
The charges each provide for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; and Joseph W. Cronin, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen of Lelling’s Economic Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.