A federal court has charged the founders of ConsoliDebt Solutions, LLC, a debt consolidation agency that has been operating in Oregon and other locations for the past five years, with knowingly and purposefully misleading its clients.
A seven-count indictment accuses Oregon and Washington state residents Javier Antonio Banuelas Urueta, 54, and Dalia Castilleja Saucedo, 38, of plotting and actually committing mail and wire fraud.
As per the indictment, Banuelas and Castilleja are accused of creating and executing a plan that involved using ConsoliDebt Solutions to obtain property and money from different customers in return for supposedly providing debt reduction or consolidation services, starting from April 2019 and continuing until this week.
According to the prosecution, Banuelas and Castilleja gave their clients instructions on how to send money orders, cashier’s checks, personal checks, or direct deposits into ConsoliDebt bank accounts.
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Furthermore, it is further claimed that Banuelas and Castilleja utilized client cash to cover a range of personal costs, including home rent, car leasing payments, loan repayments, and wire transfers.
Tuesday saw the arrest of Banuelas in Portland. That day, he appeared in federal court for the first time. There, he entered a not guilty plea, was arraigned, and was told to remain in custody while the case was handled by the courts. Castilleja is not yet dead.
For each count of mail and wire fraud, there is a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a minimum of three years of supervised release.
The HSI looked into this matter. Rachel K. Sowray, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, is leading the prosecution.
