HSI Eagle Pass arrests 2 trucking company employees for alleged wire fraud

EAGLE PASS, Texas — Two Eagle Pass women were arrested May 26 on a four-count indictment related to their alleged scheme to defraud and embezzle money from their employer, a Texas-based trucking company headquartered in Eagle Pass. The investigation is being conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Dina Maldonado Morales, 42, and Laura Ballesteros Haby, 52, were arrested and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud and aiding and abetting wire fraud. The defendants made their initial court appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Collis White.

According to court documents, both women allegedly used their positions with MH Group to divert the company’s customer account receivable payments to their own bank accounts. The total amount of the embezzled, diverted and stolen funds between July 2017 and April 2019 is allegedly $1.4 million.

If convicted, each woman faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the conspiracy count and 20 years in prison on the three wire fraud and aiding and abetting counts. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rex Beasley and Izaak Bruce for the Western District of Texas are prosecuting the case.

HSI is the principal investigative arm of DHS, responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.