Trucking company owner charged in commercial bribery scheme in Colorado

A trucking company owner has been charged along with two other men in connection with a money laundering and kickback scheme, officials say.

Trucking company owner Henry Lozano, 43, was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering alongside Edward Joseph Chmiel, 49, and Sabino Loera, 51.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, the three men were involved in a scheme to submit fraudulent invoices to a contractor providing services for a Colorado electrical utility.

Officials say that Chmiel and Loera worked for a contractor providing services for a Colorado electrical utility company.

In In August 2018, the three men allegedly entered into a scheme involving submitting false invoices from Lozano’s trucking company to Chmiel and Loera’s company. When Lozano was paid for the trucking services, Loera would direct Lozano to issue checks to a network of 15 other people, and then those people cashed the checks and then gave the cash to Chmiel and Loera.

The scheme netted $1,495,781.51 in kickback proceeds between August 2018 and June 2020, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Loera and Lozano appeared in federal court on February 10, 2025. Chmiel is expected to appear in court later this month.

Investigating agencies include the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and the FBI Denver Field Office.