Darien man indicted in bank fraud scheme

A Darien man and a man and woman from Minnesota have been indicted by a federal grand jury after allegedly conspiring in a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud banks participating in a U.S. Department of Agriculture-backed export financing program, the U.S. Attorney”™s Office for the District of Connecticut announced on Monday.

Pablo Calderon, 59, of Darien, was charged with multiple counts of wire fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and money laundering. Calderon also was charged with making a false statement to federal law enforcement. He was arraigned at U.S. District Court in Bridgeport Monday, where he was released on an unspecified bond.

Also charged in the 23-count indictment were Brett C. Lillemoe, 45, and Sarah Zirbes, 39, both of Minneapolis. Zirbes pleaded not guilty to the charges March 6 and was released on a $100,000 bond. Lillemoe pleaded not guilty March 13 and was released on $250,000 bond.

The indictment alleges that between September 2007 and January 2012, the three devised a scheme to defraud multiple U.S. financial institutions, including Deutsche Bank. It alleges the scheme used false and altered shipping documents to secure funding on loans guaranteed by  the USDA’s Export Credit Guarantee Program. The loans then went into default and were not paid back, costing the USDA millions of dollars, according to the indictment.

The investigation is being conducted by the FBI, the IRS criminal investigation division and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.