United States Attorney Matthew D. Krueger for the Eastern District of Wisconsin announced today that three defendants agreed to plead guilty to an Information charging them with federal crimes related to a long-term fraud scheme led by Brian L. Ganos involving government-funded contracts intended to benefit small businesses. The three defendants are James E. Hubbell (age: 50) of Sussex, WI, Jorge Lopez (age: 57) of Worthington, Minnesota, and Telemachos Agoudemos (age: 43) of Big Bend, WI.
According to the charges, the scheme involved Ganos, Hubbell, and others operating construction companies with straw owners who qualified as a disadvantaged individual or as a service-disabled veteran, but who did not actually control the companies. The scheme participants fraudulently obtained small business program certifications to win millions of dollars in government-funded contracts to which they were not entitled.