Family accused of stealing $13M from local company
HOUSTON
The Harris County District Attorney's Office is going after seven people accused of embezzling more than $13 million from Davis-Lynch Inc. in Pearland over a period of 10 years. This comes a year and a half after the company filed a federal lawsuit against them and 11 others, accusing the former accounting department employees of conspiring with relatives to steal that money.
It was a missing leased copy machine at Davis-Lynch that ended an alleged $13 million embezzlement scheme that lasted a decade.
"Then there was an audit conducted and the rest of the money was found," said prosecutor Wendy Baker.
The DA's Office says Nancy Moreno, the former Davis-Lynch accounting department head, was the ringleader. Court documents state that over time she brought in her family members and friends to work alongside her -- including her sister-in-law, Yvette Ybarra Trevino; her daughter, Alicia Saldana Pucek; and her daughter-in-law, Brooke Davenport Saldana.
Between 1998 and 2009, Moreno and Trevino allegedly set up false vendor codes to make unauthorized payments to two companies owned by Trevino's husband, Ernest.
"They created false vendor codes and wrote several unauthorized checks to friends and family members including Ernest Trevino and Yvette Trevino," said Baker.
According to court documents, Moreno also allegedly wrote unauthorized checks to a company owned by her son, Noe Kent Saldana, whose wife Brooke was also hired at Davis-Lynch by Moreno. Moreno also issued unauthorized payments to her son-in-law, Ronald Wayne Pucek, court documents allege.
Yvette Trevino, 46, of Alvin, is charged with aggregate theft of over $200,000. Her husband, Ernest Trevino, 43, is charged with theft. Both were arrested on Friday.
Alicia Pucek, 30, is charged with engaging in organized criminal activity. She is in custody in another county. Her husband, Ronald Pucek, 30, is also charged with engaging in organized criminal activity.
A prosecutor says Moreno was arrested late Monday afternoon and will be charged with aggregate theft over $200,000.
Noe Saldana and his wife Brooke Saldana have each been charged with aggregate theft over $200,000 and turned themselves in this afternoon, according to Baker.
