Former fleet owner charged following alleged fraud against Amazon

July 1, 2020

The owner of a for-hire carrier in Rhode Island has been charged with wire fraud and mail fraud following an alleged ongoing fraud scheme.

Michael Chaves, former owner of CAT Inc., had been on pretrial supervision as a result of charges stemming from a scheme to defraud the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, according to the DOT Office of Inspector General. His release was based on the condition that he not commit another local, state or federal crime. He was charged on July 24, 2019, and pled guilty to charges on Aug. 22.

On approximately March 31, 2020, while he was on pretrial release, OIG says Amazon.com contacted investigators with information regarding an alleged ongoing fraud being perpetrated by Chaves.

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