Exporter Sentenced To 37 Months In Prison In Ex-Im Bank Fraud

Edward Chua of Montebello, California was sentenced to 37 months in prison on Wednesday by US District Judge Richard W. Roberts in the District of Columbia for defrauding the Export-Import Bank of the US of more than $10 million. Chua, former owner of exporting companies EMMCCO and EMCO, pleaded guilty in July 2007 to one count of conspiracy and one count of mail fraud. Chua admitted acting as a purported exporter in over $10 million worth of fraudulent loan transactions, falsifying documents sent to US banks and to the Ex-Im Bank, and misappropriating approximately $10 million in loan proceeds. He also admitted transferring approximately $9 million to bank accounts owned or controlled by a co-conspirator in the Philippines. The transactions occurred between November 1999 and January 2005 and are part of a larger fraud investigation involving 11 men, 10 of them Filipino nationals, and a total estimated at $80 million. Seven defendants have pleaded guilty to date, and Chua became the fifth to be sentenced to prison. See our entry here on the February sentencing of another defendant, David Villongco (DOJ, Philippines ABS-CBN News).