SAN ANTONIO - Allegations of fraud and misappropriation have been brought against the owners DCJ Development, Daniel Nunez and Christopher Garcia, a DCJ Development press release states.
Since January 2023, Nunez and Garcia have held managerial positions within DCJ, with Nunez serving as Chief Executive Officer and Garcia serving as the Chief Operating Officer, thereby owing fiduciary duties to the company.
The fraud lawsuit was filed in Bexar County against Nunez and Garcia. An investigation, spearheaded by former Chief Financial Officer Justin Valinski, revealed a complex scheme orchestrated by Nunez and Garcia, thet press release states.
According to the press release, in January 2024 Valinski, then serving as DCJ's Chief Financial Officer, began uncovering financial discrepancies within the company's operations. Through diligent investigation, Valinski discovered discrepancies between the locations where DCJ's employees were purportedly working and the corresponding billing records. Using geocodes activated through the Geographic Information System in QuickBooks Time, Valinski traced these discrepancies, revealing a complex scheme devised by Nunez and Garcia.
The scheme, as alleged, involved several layers of fraudulent activity. Firstly, DCJ employees were purportedly working on construction projects, for which DCJ covered wages and materials costs, yet received no income from the projects, resulting in losses of thousands of dollars. Additionally, employees were reportedly paid for unaccounted hours, bypassing the QuickBooks Time system, leading to an estimated misappropriation of around $900,000, the press release states.
Furthermore, DCJ allegedly billed its largest customer, StandardAero of San Antonio, approximately $1,000,000 for labor and materials not utilized on their projects, potentially jeopardizing relationships and exposing Valinski to significant liabilities. Notably, some of the work purportedly performed by DCJ employees was traced back to the personal residence of Nunez and Garcia, the press release states.
Valinski reached out to StandardAero’s onsite executive Lloyd Barker, Senior Vice President, via email on three separate occasions in March of 2024. In his email Valinski added a copy of the fraud lawsuit he had filed and copied Ron Gillette, Senior Vice President, on the email correspondence. Barker and Gillette then forwarded the emails from Valinski to Nunez and Garcia. Valinski believes that Barker and Gillette, due to their incompetence, don’t want to shine a light on the fraud which could have damaging effects on their multimillion-dollar military contracts with the Department of Defense.
Valinski was told by Gillette that approximately 50% of StandardAero’s business is multimillion dollar contracts with the Department of Defense. Nunez and Garcia have also used unlicensed or uninsured tradesmen including electricians, plumbers, and HVAC technicians to do work within StandardAero while also not submitting permits for millions of dollars of work at the StandardAero location. Due to the fraud being imparted against a government agency Valinski contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigations in April of 2024 and this investigation is currently ongoing. Nunez and Garcia are still contracting for StandardAero and haven’t been removed as of May 2024, the press release states.
Valinski's scrutiny extended beyond labor discrepancies, uncovering thousands of dollars in personal expenses charged to DCJ's credit cards, including purchases at gas stations, grocery stores, medical expenses, and restaurants, the press release states.
Since Valinski’s removal from his role as Chief Financial Officer he’s received several collection calls from various companies who are not being paid on time or at all in some cases along with employees and contractors who also haven’t been being paid, the press release states.