Thread: CEO of Texas Migrant Minors Shelter Faces Fraud Charges

CEO of Texas Migrant Minors Shelter Faces Fraud Charges

by LUISANA MORENO 7 Sep 2022

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — The top executive of a local shelter for unaccompanied migrants faces federal fraud charges for allegedly using public grants and other funds to cover personal real state purchases and lease-backs. At least two other unnamed individuals are expected to be arrested in the coming days in connection with the case.

Ruben Gallegos Jr. the former CEO of International Educational Services (IES), remains jailed without bond following his arrest last week by the FBI.

According to a criminal indictment, from 2014 to 2017, the company had a federal contract with the Unaccompanied Alien Children Program to operate various shelters in the region after they were apprehended by federal authorities.

Gallegos and the two other men allegedly used separate real state holding companies to hide their purchases using the federal grant monies. The group also allegedly used their closely-tied construction companies to inflate building costs.

Then, the real estate holdings entity allegedly leased the properties back to IES at above-market rents. In one example, Gallegos allegedly bought a $1 million property in San Benito, Texas, to establish a shelter and then signed a five-year lease under IES’s name for $35,000 per month. The shelter never opened.

Under federal guidelines, the salaries of IES employees were to be capped at $187,000, however, prosecutors claim Gallegos earned nearly $500,000 a year under the contract. Prosecutors also point objected to the salaries of the two others.

CEO of Texas Migrant Minors Shelter Faces Fraud Charges (breitbart.com)

We should not be sheltering ANY minors, who are foreign citizens, on our soil.

Hand them over to their Embassy or Consulate to house, feed, and transport back home within 24 hours. Their country pays and it will stop the human trafficking. They pay over and over again to deport these criminal trespassers and they will put them in prison on their soil. We are not their FREE travel agent!