Fruit stand photo by Tim mossholder on unsplash.com

A Mexican national living in Fresno is facing up to 30 years in prison with his indictment on charges he defrauded a local wholesale produce company.

On Thursday, the U.S Department of Justice announced a six-count indictment against Sergio Zacarias Lopez, 57, charging him with bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and illegally re-entering the country as a removed alien.

The indictment was unsealed Thursday after Zacarias Lopez’s arrest.

Between January 2016 and June 2023, Zacarias Lopez is accused of abusing his position as the accounting supervisor and controller of an unnamed, family-run fruit wholesaler based in Fresno.

He embezzled more than $1 million before being detected by one of the banks involved and terminated by the company.

According to court documents, he wrote multiple company checks for amounts between $1,000 and $6,000 payable to “cash,” and then deposited them into his own personal bank account through local ATMs.

Zacarias Lopez would authorize fraudulent checks using other employees’ signatures with signatory authority, including one of the founders of the company.

According to court documents, Zacarias Lopez would deposit the cash into his personal bank account, but gave the fraudulent check entries false subject lines that would lead other employees at the company reviewing spreadsheets to think the check was made payable to a vendor, and not to cash.

Zacarias Lopez first secured his accounting position by stealing a valid social security number and used that and other falsified employment documents to conceal his lack of legal status.

The indictment states that he was removed from the U.S. in 2000 and had not been permitted to return to the country.

Along with facing a maximum penalty of 30 years for bank fraud, he may also be ordered to a pay a $1 million fine.

If convicted of aggravated identity or illegal re-entry, Zacarias Lopez faces a penalty of two years in prison.

The sentence would be determined at the discretion of the court.