A Lakewood man was indicted last week by a federal grand jury for putting more than $1.2 million in personal purchases on his government credit card.
James Montoya, 54, worked as an Information Technology (IT) Specialist for the U. S. Geological Survey in a Lakewood office. The U.S. Department of the Interior, which has oversight of the USGS, recently found questionable transactions on Montoya’s government charge card during a routine operation to identify credit card misuse.
According to the indictment, Montoya is accused of altering and falsifying documents to conceal purchases he made for personal goods and services. He is alleged to have paid himself $1,223,009.42 over the course of 15 years (from December 2008 through November 2023).
Specifically, as recounted in the indictment, Montoya created three fictitious vendors which he paid with the government-issued card. More $1 million of the fraudulent funds was paid to the vendors via Paypal and then transferred to Montoya’s personal bank accounts, according to prosecutors.