United States Attorney's Office
Southern District of Florida
July 15, 2016
Palm Beach County Resident Found Guilty of Defrauding Federal Agencies
Alexander Robert Xavier, 51, of Jensen Beach, Florida, was found guilty on July 14, 2016, of defrauding federal agencies by issuing fraudulent bonds to insure government construction projects.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Florida, Jerry Polk, Special Agent in Charge, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of the Inspector General (EPA-OIG), Atlanta Field Office and Monty Stokes, Special Agent in Charge, United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, Criminal Investigations Division (VA-OIG), Southeast Field Office, made the announcement.
A jury convicted Xavier of mail fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341, major fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1031, and making a false statement to the United States Department of the Army, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001. A sentencing hearing has been set before U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra on September 30, 2016. Xavier faces a statutory maximum sentence of 35 years’ imprisonment.
According to court documents and evidence introduced at trial, from approximately May 2008 to October 2010, Xavier devised a scheme to unlawfully enrich himself by representing that he was an “individual surety” on various performance and payment bonds – a type of insurance required on major government construction contracts. During the course of the fraud, Xavier pledged millions of dollars in assets to agencies of the United States. In truth, and as Xavier well knew, there were no such assets.
The evidence at trial showed that Xavier issued a large number of bonds and dealt with various contractors and government agencies. Often, the construction contracts had “modifications,” that is, contract expansions, that led to more bonds being issued.
During the course of the scheme, Xavier pledged over $25 million in collateral for the bonds. Xavier was paid over $400,000 in bond fees as a result. The defrauded federal agencies included, among others, the United States Department of the Army and the United States Department of Labor.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the EPA-OIG, VA-OIG. Mr. Ferrer also thanked the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command; U.S. Department of Defense-OIG, Defense Criminal Investigative Services; U.S. General Services Administration-OIG; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-OIG; and Department of State-OIG.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Browne and Wilfredo Fernandez.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office press release
