CAMDEN, N.J. – A Camden County, New Jersey, man today admitted defrauding the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) by providing military equipment parts that were not what he had contracted to provide and illegally accessing technical information because he was not a United States citizen, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Officials say Oben Cabalceta, 53, of Atco, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman in Camden federal court to an information charging him with one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act.
**According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:**
Cabalceta was the owner of two companies: Owen’s Fasteners Inc. (Owen’s) and United Manufacturer LLC (United), two manufacturing companies in West Berlin, New Jersey.
Cabalceta admitted that between August 2004 and March 2016, Owen’s and United obtained contracts with the DoD by falsely claiming that the military parts it contracted to provide would be the exact product offered by authorized manufacturers. The DoD contracts specified that the military parts were critical application items for military equipment, including aircraft.
Contrary to the contract, Cabalceta either used his companies to contract with local manufacturers to supply non-conforming parts or made the parts himself at a significantly reduced cost. The non-conforming parts were shipped from New Jersey to various DoD locations around the country. DoD paid Owen’s and United $1,890,939 for those parts.
Cabalceta also admitted that he was a native and citizen of the Republic of Costa Rica who overstayed his tourist visa in 2000 and was not lawfully in the United States. To further his fraud on the DoD, in August 2005 and November 2010, Cabalceta caused his brother-in-law, Roger Sobrado, to submit to the DoD a fraudulent application for access to export controlled drawings and technical data on behalf Owen’s. In 2015, Cabalceta caused an accomplice to submit to the DoD a fraudulent application for access to export controlled drawings and technical data on behalf of Owen’s.
Cabalceta acknowledged that access to the controlled drawings and technical data was limited to citizens of the United States and those lawfully in the United States. He admitted that on July 28, 2011, and at various times between January 2013 and November 2015, while unlawfully in the United States, he accessed or downloaded drawings that were sensitive in nature that required exclusive access.
The count of wire fraud to which Cabalceta pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The count of conspiracy to violate the Arms Control Export Act to which he pleaded guilty carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 2, 2019.
On Oct. 11, 2018, Sobrado pleaded guilty before Judge Hillman to a three-count information charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act, and income tax evasion. Sobrado’s sentencing is pending.