HOUSTON – A 43-year-old California man has been ordered to
federal prison following his conviction related to a scheme to embezzle $3.1
from the Beck Group in Houston, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.
Charles Williams, of Los Angeles, California, pleaded guilty Sept. 7, 2018.
Today, U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore ordered him to
prison for 72 months in prison to be immediately followed by three years of
supervised release. Williams was also ordered to pay more than $3 million in
restitution to The Beck Group.
Williams conspired with six people to commit wire fraud and
money laundering. Those individuals -
Moses Said, 42, of Houston; Lanamasha Hampton, 42, and Collette Devoe Hines,
49, both of Atlanta, Georgia; Janell Crosby Quant, 38, of Union City, Georgia;
Heather Ashley Sowa, 31, of Denver, Colorado; and William Lewis Sutton, Jr.,
48, of Los Angeles, California – also pleaded guilty for their roles in the
scheme.
As a construction manager with the Beck Group, Said was in
charge of the Le Meridien Hotel Project located in downtown Houston from 2016
to 2017.
Hampton, Quant, Hines, Sowa, Sutton, and Williams created
shell companies which submitted false invoices to the Beck Group for payment
for construction products that were not provided and construction services that
were not performed.
As the construction manager for the Beck Group, Said
approved and submitted the false invoices for payment, causing the Beck Group
to issue payments to the shell companies. Upon receipt of the monies The Beck
Group paid, the others paid some of the fraud proceeds to Williams and Said.
They attempted to conceal and disguise the nature and origin of the proceeds by transferring the proceeds to
other companies and individuals.
Williams was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily
surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near
future.
The FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney
Vernon Lewis is prosecuting the case.
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