FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICEThursday, January 24, 2013
Former Co-Owner of Contracting Company Sentenced in San Antonio to 30 Months in Prison for Scheme to Defraud the U.S. Government
A former co-owner of a U.S. civilian contractor company was sentenced today in San Antonio to serve 30 months in prison for falsifying official documents in connection with Iraq reconstruction government contracts, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman for the Western District of Texas.
Jill Ann Charpia, 33, formerly of San Antonio and currently of Colorado, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia in the Western District of Texas. In addition to her prison term, Charpia was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $920,000 plus interest in restitution to the United States.
According to court documents, from 2008 through 2009, Charpia was the co-owner of Sourcing Specialist LLC, a privately owned company that contracted with the U.S. government to provide services in Iraq. In September 2008, she contracted to provide a turn-key housing facility located outside Iraq’s International Zone to facilitate the introduction of multi-national firms desiring to develop business opportunities in Iraq. That same month, Charpia signed and submitted to the Department of Defense (DOD) Joint Contracting Command Iraq/Afghanistan, for payment through the contract, a false invoice in the amount of $1,270,075 purportedly for mobilization costs. She followed up with two invoices, one representing that she had paid $700,000 for the rental of two villas in Baghdad, and the other representing that she had paid $570,075 on the purchase of three armored vehicles from an Iraqi company. In October 2008, as a result of her false and fraudulent statements, DOD caused $1,270,075 to be wired to Charpia’s bank account. Charpia admitted that she fabricated both invoices and forged the signatures on the documents. She also admitted that she did not purchase any armored vehicles and paid only half the submitted cost for the villas.
This case is being prosecuted by Special Trial Attorney Mark Grider of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, on detail from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), and by Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith A. Patton of the Western District of Texas. The case is being investigated by SIGIR, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and the Major Procurement Fraud Unit of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command.
