Former Fresno council candidate, ex-city manager of Parlier convicted of fraud, DOJ says
A one-time candidate for the Fresno City Council and former city manager of Parlier was convicted along with another man for a multi-year pension fraud scheme, the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday.
A jury convicted Marcus Asay, 68, and Antonio Gastelum, 53, for charges related to pension fraud after a 19-day trial, federal prosecutors said in a news release. Asay was also convicted of worker’s compensation fraud.
Gastelum, who lost his bid for the Fresno council seat in 2016, held several roles in Agricultural Contracting Services Association, which does business as American Labor Alliance, a company he ran with Asay, prosecutors said.
Gastelum told The Bee he intends to appeal his conviction.
The men offered three sham products in retirement plans, workers’ compensation coverage and hardship exemptions between 2011 and 2019, prosecutors said.
The hardship exemption fraud was sold as a way to meet the Affordable Care Act’s requirement for people to obtain health insurance, according to prosecutors.
The pair falsely represented themselves as able to protect and invest retirement money in a 401(k) plan. They instead used the money they collected from more than 3,000 people on improper and personal expenses, like restaurants, travel, credit cards and rare coins, prosecutors said.
Asay also moved some of the money into his personal accounts and paid rent on a lakefront home, the jury heard.
They used money from their workers’ comp scheme to cover up the money they took from the pension scheme, which was more than $750,000.
The workers’ comp scheme tallied $2.25 million, prosecutors said.
Asay represented to victims he could help them to avoid having to meet the Affordable Care Act requirement by paying a “few hundred dollars,” prosecutors said. In reality, anyone who meets the hardship requirement could be granted the exemption for free.
Both Asay and Gastelum are set to be sentenced Oct. 21 by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd, according to the news release.
Asay and Gastelum both face up to 20 years in prison for each count as well as maximum fines ranging from $250,000 to $500,000 per count.
The company faces up to an $8.5 million fine.
This story was originally published June 20, 2024 at 12:58 PM.
