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November 21, 2018

California Man Pleads Guilty for Submitting False Records on IRS Security Guard Contract

On September 17, 2018, in the Eastern District of California, Robert Bejarano pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud the Government and false statements in connection with an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) contract for security services. Bejarano and coconspirators Scott Carlton and Matthew Cocola all were initially indicted in August 2015.

According to the court documents, the IRS entered into a contract with E&A Protective Services-Bravo, LLC, to provide uniformed security guard services at the IRS's Fresno Campus and at an IRS facility in Ogden, Utah, from February 2011 through March 2016. Guard services in Fresno were needed 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year, including holidays. It was a requirement of the contract that all guards sent out to the IRS had an active firearms qualification from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center's Practical Pistol Course (PPC). Guards who failed to obtain a qualifying score were not eligible to work at the IRS sites.

The plea agreement states that coconspirator Carlton was the regional manager for E&A in Fresno, California; Bejarano was the onsite project manager. Carlton hired Cocola, a certified firearms instructor, to certify the guards. Bejarano and Carlton then agreed to defraud the IRS by having Cocola falsify the scores to show the guards had passed the test, when in fact they had not. The form was signed by Cocola after the false "passing" score was written on it; Bejarano and Carlton then used these forms to falsely certify to the IRS's contracting officers that the guards had qualified under the contract.

The plea agreement indicates that Bejarano and Carlton regularly certified the requirements under the contract were being met; based on this, IRS paid monthly invoices as submitted by E&A. In 2011, 12 of 62 PPC scores were falsified; in 2012, 11 of 69 were falsified; and in 2013, 18 of 66 scores were falsified. Therefore, between 2011 and 2013, E&A was paid more than $2 million on false and fraudulent claims submitted to the IRS for security guards who were not qualified to work under the contract.

Cocola pled guilty in September 2016 and was sentenced in January 2017. A jury trial is set for Carlton beginning November 6, 2018. A sentencing date has not been set for Bejarano.

    Source:  The facts in this case narrative come from the following publicly available documents: E.D. Cal. Indict. filed Aug. 20, 2015; E.D. Cal. Plea Agr. filed Aug. 27, 2018; E.D. Cal. Crim. Docket as of Sep. 18, 2018.