Wednesday, April 30, 2025
DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado has announced the indictment of Julio Melendez, 31, on ten counts of wire fraud and aiding and abetting, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
According to the indictment, between approximately March 2020 and November 2020, Melendez allegedly orchestrated a payroll fraud scheme against his employer, a Maryland-based company specializing in maintenance, custodial, janitorial, and construction services for federal government agencies. During this period, the company held a contract with a federal agency, requiring them to provide services such as janitorial work, groundskeeping, snow removal, and maintenance. As a project manager, Melendez was responsible for supervising around 12 employees, managing their timekeeping, ensuring timesheet accuracy, approving timesheets, verifying task completion, and ensuring adequate staffing at the federal agency site.
The indictment further alleges that Melendez conspired with employees under his supervision to falsify timesheets, resulting in the company paying wages for hours and days the employees did not work. These employees then allegedly provided a portion of their unearned wages to Melendez as part of the scheme. The victim company reportedly paid approximately $82,000 in fraudulent wages for services never rendered to the government agency.
The investigation is being conducted by the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Assistant United States Attorney Tim Neff is handling the prosecution.
The charges outlined in the indictment are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Case Number: 25-cr-00103-RMR