Government Contractor Charged in $2.6M Fraud Scheme

Chester L. Neal Jr., 43, of Fresno, California, was arrested in St. Louis, Missou, and charged in an indictment filed in the Eastern District of California with two counts of mail fraud.

According to the indictment, Neal established and controlled several companies through which he secured at least 105 government contracts to provide various goods and services to federal agencies including the Department of Interior, U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force. 

The indictment alleges that Neal subcontracted the work to other vendors who provided all of the goods and services to the contracting federal agencies.  Neal allegedly made several misrepresentations in order to induce the subcontractors to perform the contractually required work.

The indictment further alleges that Neal did not pay his subcontractors even though he was paid by the government for his subcontractors’ work.  Instead, Neal allegedly kept the money for his personal use.  In total, between July 2008 and December 2017, Neal allegedly defrauded his subcontractors out of at least $2.6 million.