Trucking owner-operator charged in multi-million dollar overbilling scheme targeting Williams-Sonoma

A New Jersey trucker is facing charges related to an alleged scheme to defraud retailer Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by overcharging for trucking services.

Jose Pena, 46, has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.

Officials say that Pena owned and operated a trucking company that subcontracted with a national transportation and logistics company to provide delivery services for home goods retailer Williams-Sonoma in the New York and New Jersey metro areas.

Between June 2018 and September 2020, officials allege that Pena and co-conspirators who worked at Williams-Sonoma and the national trucking company to overbill the victim companies for over $3.6 million in fabricated deliveries and services that Pena and his firm did not complete.

Pena is said to have provided co-conspirators with “lavish kickbacks” including cash, checks, a sport utility vehicle, and a Rolex watch.

The scheme was uncovered by an internal audit, and victim companies severed ties with Pena. However, officials allege that Pena “hid his interest in another trucking firm that contracted directly with Williams-Sonoma in September 2021” and “continued to work with a subset of his co-conspirators to overbill Williams-Sonoma for fabricated deliveries through June 2024, resulting in nearly $1 million in additional losses to Williams-Sonoma.”

Raymond DeLeon, 38, and Cintia Elaxcar, 40, both pleaded guilty in January 2025 to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with the scheme.

DeLeon allegedly worked as an operations general manager for the national trucking company and received over $200,000 in kickback payments in exchange for his role in causing the fraudulent billing requests to be submitted to the victim companies.

Elaxcar worked as a billing and dispatch manager for the national trucking company and reportedly received over $435,000 in kickback payments in exchange for her role in causing the fraudulent billing requests to be submitted to the victim companies.

Conspiracy to commit wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of twenty years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greatest.