California Man Indicted for Scheme to Defraud New Jersey Company of Millions of Dollars
NEWARK, N.J. – A California man has been indicted for fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars from a victim company based in New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced.
Joseph Rodriguez, 70, of Irvine, California, is charged by indictment with three counts of wire fraud. Rodriguez was arrested yesterday and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge John D. Early in Santa Ana, California federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
In January 2015, Rodriguez, through his company Old American Incorporated, entered into a factoring agreement with a New Jersey company (identified in the indictment as “Victim-1”) to obtain loans secured or collateralized by accounts receivable. Under the factoring agreement, in which a business sells its outstanding invoices to a third party for immediate cash, Old American retained control over customer relationships and debt collection and was required to pay back Victim-1 directly within 90 days.
From February 2023 through July 2023, Rodriguez submitted to Victim-1 fraudulent invoices for future accounts receivable that Rodriguez represented were owed to Old American. In fact, the customers listed in the invoices Rodriguez provided to Victim-1 did not owe any money to Old American for any outstanding invoices, and there were no accounts payable to turn over. Based on the fraudulent invoices, Victim-1 made millions of dollars of advance payments to Rodriguez, which he did not return.
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