Middlesex Co. Man Charged In Multimillion-Dollar Overbilling Scheme: Fed

MIDDLESEX COUNTY, NJ — A Middlesex County man was charged with participating in a conspiracy to defraud Williams-Sonoma, Inc. and another national transportation and logistics company through overbilling for trucking services, Acting U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna said.

Jose Pena, 46, of Monroe was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

According to documents filed in court, Pena owned and operated a trucking firm that subcontracted with a national transportation and logistics company (referred to in the Complaint as “Company-1”) to provide delivery services in the New Jersey/New York metropolitan area for Williams-Sonoma, Inc., out of Williams-Sonoma’s distribution center in Cranbury, New Jersey.

From around June 2018 through September 2020, Pena conspired with others who worked at Williams-Sonoma and Company-1, to overbill the victim companies for over $3.6 million in fabricated deliveries and services that Pena and his firm did not complete, according to court documents.

In exchange for his co-conspirators’ participation, Pena paid to them lavish kickbacks, including cash, checks, a sport utility vehicle, and a Rolex watch.

After an internal audit revealed the fraud and the victim companies no longer wished to contract with Pena, he hid his interest in another trucking firm that contracted directly with Williams-Sonoma in September 2021, court documents revealed.

Pena continued to work with a subset of his co-conspirators to overbill Williams-Sonoma for fabricated deliveries through June 2024, resulting in nearly $1 million in additional losses to Williams-Sonoma, authorities said.

Two of Pena’s co-conspirators, Raymond DeLeon and Cintia Elaxcar, pleaded guilty last month for participating in this conspiracy in their capacities as former employees of Company-1.

Raymond DeLeon, 38, of Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. DeLeon worked as an operations general manager for Company-1 and received over $200,000 in kickback payments in exchange for his role in causing the fraudulent billing requests to be submitted to the victim companies.

Cintia Elaxcar, 40, of Perth Amboy, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Elaxcar worked as a billing and dispatch manager for Company-1 and received over $435,000 in kickback payments in exchange for her role in causing the fraudulent billing requests to be submitted to the victim companies.

The charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud – which Pena is charged with and which DeLeon and Elaxcar have each pleaded guilty to – carries a maximum penalty of twenty years in prison. It also carries a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greater, authorities said.

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