Sergio Zacarias Lopez, 57, a former accounting supervisor for a Fresno fruit wholesaler, has been charged with embezzling over $1 million from his employer. Lopez, a Mexican citizen living in Fresno, was indicted on February 27. He faces charges including bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and illegal re-entry of a removed alien, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Zacarias Lopez is accused of embezzling money from January 2016 to June 2023. He wrote checks payable to "cash," deposited them into his personal accounts using ATMs, and forged the signatures of employees with signatory authority. "Through this scheme, Zacarias Lopez embezzled more than $1 million before he was eventually detected by one of the banks and terminated by the company." He is also accused of committing identity fraud by using a stolen social security number and falsified documents to get his job, despite being previously removed from the U.S. in 2000 without permission to return, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Zacarias Lopez faces charges of bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and illegal re-entry, with a possible maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a fine up to $1 million. Additional charges could add two years for each. The final sentence will "take into account a number of variables" as determined by the court. Lopez is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The investigation, conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Fresno Police Department, is being led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Calvin Lee, as stated by the U.S. Attorney's Office.