S. Lane Tucker, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney's Office District of Alaska
Two Chicago residents have been sentenced to prison for their involvement in a wire fraud and money laundering scheme that defrauded a North Pole restaurant of over $128,000 between July and August 2022. Jacob Centeno, aged 40, received a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence followed by three years of supervised release. His co-defendant, Amber Davila, aged 36, was sentenced to two years in prison with an additional three years on supervised release.
Court documents revealed that the owner of the North Pole restaurant noticed missing funds from the business bank account in August 2022. It was discovered that all funds intended for deposit had been diverted to an unknown bank account between August 4-9, totaling $128,246.05.
The investigation showed that Centeno and Davila opened two shell companies in Chicago to execute the theft. In July 2021, they registered EROS LLC and set up a business bank account. By July 2022, they used stolen personal information to register ORODMEDLINE LLC and opened another business account.
On July 29, 2022, an unidentified co-conspirator changed the restaurant's bank account details to those of ORODMEDLINE LLC so that funds could be redirected. An email confirming this change was sent to the restaurant but intercepted by Centeno and Davila who accessed the victim’s email unlawfully. They filled out and returned the confirmation form before deleting related emails to cover their tracks.
The stolen funds were used by Centeno and Davila to purchase over $41,000 in money orders in Chicago. These were deposited into various accounts in amounts below $10,000 each to evade Bank Secrecy Act reporting requirements before being transferred again for further concealment.
Centeno and Davila were indicted in June 2024 and pleaded guilty on January 31, 2025, to all charges against them. The court highlighted the significant impact their actions had on the victims when delivering its sentence.
“Mr. Centeno and Ms. Davila orchestrated an elaborate fraud scheme from Chicago to steal over $100,000 from a small business in North Pole, Alaska - 3,300 miles away,” stated U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman for the District of Alaska. “This sentence sends a clear message—we will aggressively pursue and hold accountable criminals in any state who exploit innocent Alaskans for personal gain.”
Special Agent Rebecca Day of the FBI Anchorage Field Office added: “To fund their own fraudulent lifestyle...affecting innocent victims along the way...Today’s sentencings demonstrate that distance and complexity are no barriers to justice.”
The case was investigated by several agencies including FBI Anchorage Field Office Fairbanks Resident Agency FBI Chicago Field Office North Pole Police Department while Assistant U.S Attorney Carly Vosacek prosecuted it with support from Northern District Illinois’ U.S Attorney’s Office.
