FRESNO - Last month, a federal grand jury returned a six-count indictment against Sergio Zacarias Lopez, 57, a Mexican citizen residing in Fresno, charging him with bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and illegal re-entry of a removed alien, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith announced. The indictment was unsealed following his arrest today.

According to court documents, between January 2016 and June 2023, Zacarias Lopez abused his position as the accounting supervisor and controller to defraud a family-run Fresno fruit wholesaler. Zacarias Lopez would write multiple company checks payable to “cash” and then deposit them into his personal bank account through local ATMs. He signed the fraudulent checks using the signatures of other employees with signatory authority, including one of the company's founders.

Through this scheme, Zacarias Lopez embezzled more than $1 million before he was eventually detected by one of the banks and terminated by the company. To secure his accounting role in the first place, Zacarias Lopez stole a valid social security number and used that along with other falsified employment documents to conceal his lack of legal status. The indictment also states that Zacarias Lopez was previously removed from the United States in 2000 and has not been permitted to return to the United States.

If convicted of bank fraud, Zacarias Lopez faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. If convicted of aggravated identity theft or illegal re-entry of a removed alien, he faces a penalty of two years in prison. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.