Pflugerville Woman Sentenced to Federal Prison for Fraud and Tax Evasion Scheme

 In Austin, a federal judge sentenced 50-year-old Nicky Osborne, a former Pflugerville trucking company Chief Financial Officer, to 46 months in federal prison and to pay more than $8 million in restitution for a fraud and tax evasion scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff; Special Agent in Charge Richard D. Goss, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS CI), Houston Field Office; and FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, San Antonio Division.

In addition to the 46-month prison term handed down yesterday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ordered Osborne to pay $7,479,179.39 in restitution to ProBilling and Fund Service of Alabama and $596,425 in restitution to the IRS.  Judge Pitman also ordered that Osborne be placed on supervised release for a period of five years after completing her prison term. 

On February 25, 2020, Osborne pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of making a false statement on an income tax return.  By pleading guilty, Osborne admitted that while employed at Bison Global Logistics of Pflugerville between 2012 and 2017, she schemed to submit false and inflated receivables to financing companies.  Osborne also earned a substantial income at Bison and failed to report commissions from her fraud scheme as income.

“The role of IRS Criminal Investigation becomes even more important in investigating wire fraud schemes due to the complex financial transactions that can take time to unravel,” said  IRS CI Special Agent in Charge Goss.  “Additionally, federal tax laws are also typically violated in these types of cases which can add to additional jail time. IRS CI Special Agents are skilled at investigating all types of tax and related financial crimes and this sentencing is a testament to that hard work and commitment.”

“The FBI is committed to fight fraud at every level. This case is the result of patient, detail-oriented, hard work. I'd like to thank our dedicated team as well as our IRS partners for their continued support to the FBI mission,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Combs.

The IRS CI and FBI investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Fernald prosecuted this case.